Blended learning is a combination of online learning followed by practical application, exercises and demonstration, often on a live firing range.
The new blended NRA Basic Pistol course will be available to the public in the first quarter of 2016. This means a portion of the course is conducted online in an e-learning environment that can be completed on the students' own time. The e-learning portion teaches gun safety rules, types of pistols, proper operation of revolvers and semi-automatic pistols, ammunition knowledge and selection, selecting and storing a pistol, the fundamentals of pistol shooting, clearing stoppages, zeroing, pistol shooting errors, and pistol inspection and maintenance.
Once students complete the e-learning portion, they will be able to enroll in the instructor-led portion of the course. You will notice that the lesson plan for the instructor-led portion of the course, or Phase II, has been placed on your http://www.nrainstructors.org/ home page for all pistol instructors to download and/or print. Please become familiar with the course content so you are prepared to greet a new batch of students. NRA Instructors will continue to provide review sessions with sufficient time to assess students' level of understanding and retention of the course material, explain what will be expected during live-fire practice sessions on the range, and interact sufficiently to detect attitudes, personalities, intentions, and so on. The students will demonstrate comprehension and application of gun safety rules, range protocol, proper handling, loading and unloading procedures, application of pistol shooting fundamentals, stable shooting positions, live fire, and shooting a final qualification.
As we prepare to launch the new NRA Basic Pistol course to the public, you will notice changes to http://www.nrainstructors.org/. Students will still find your courses as they always have, but they will be required to have a Personal Identification Number (PIN) to register. They will create a PIN when they register for the online e-learning portion (Phase I) of the Basic Pistol course. After completion, when they register for your instructor-led (Phase II) portion of the course using their PIN, their contact information and test score will appear in the course report. Once the instructor completes the instructor-led portion of the course (Phase II), and the student passes the course, the instructor prints the certificate right from http://www.nrainstructors.org/.
