What follows is not an official announcement by the NRA.  It reflects my understanding of changes in the way instruction is to be presented in the future.

The NRA is in the process of changing the way their shooting courses are taught.  Over the next few years all NRA shooting courses will be presented in a format they call Blended Training.  Basic pistol instruction will be the first shooting discipline addressed in this manner.  

With all NRA shooting courses the goal is to instill in each student the necessary knowledge, skill and attitude to safely and effectively use the firearm of focus at whatever level is being taught.  Traditionally this has been done using a certified instructor to present all of the material necessary to address each learning objective for the course and to supervise and coach students with all hands-on techniques including the application of the fundamentals of marksmanship.  

As of May 2015 there are four NRA courses being handled in a strictly on-line, none of which is a shooting course.  They are, NRA Club Leadership & Development Course, NRA Range Development and Operations Course, NRA Range Safety Officer Course, Refuse To Be A Victim Instructor Course.  None of these are Blended Training.  

Nobody I know of other than those working in the NRA Training Department can explain exactly how all of this is going to come together.  NRA certified instructors have not been informed in much detail about how the new program will work nor has any NRA Training Counselor I know of been kept up to speed on how this will roll out.  There is an FAQ available to instructors which answers some questions about the new program but it is far from comprehensive.  

There was a well-attended workshop at the 2015 NRA Convention in which one of the hot topics was Blended Training.  I attended that workshop along with Tom Herron, another local NRA Certified Instructor.  The primary reason I attended the workshop was to gain a better understanding of Blended Training.  What follows is my understanding about when the program will be available to the public and how Blended Training will work along with some speculation as to what impact it will have on students.  

The eLearning portion of Blended Training will be offered sometime in the October/November, 2015 timeframe.  Once it is offered there will be a short transition period in which a student may opt for Blended Training or training as currently offered by NRA Certified Instructors.   The transition period will probably not last for more than a couple of months.  Once the transition period is done all basic pistol training will be done only in the Blended Training format.  

I believe that the eLearning portion of Blended Training will address learning objectives that deal with knowledge.  It will address topics like Safe Gun Handling Rules, Rules for Using and Storing Guns, Range Safety Rules, Ammunition, Range Orientation, Types of Handguns, Handgun Operation, Grip, Firing Positions, Fundamentals of Marksmanship, Maintenance, Firearm Selection, and Continued Training.  Each of these topics will be addressed by a very well designed eLearning presentation to include frequent review questions to ensure that the student understands the material.  In order to proceed to the next topic the student will have to correctly answer the questions for the current topic.

At the completion of the entire eLearning presentation there will be a test, probably in a multiple choice and true false format.  The student must pass this test in order to have access to a boots-on-the-ground NRA Certified Instructor.  The student then must select an instructor to handle all of the hands-on evaluation and shooting qualification course.  

We do not yet know exactly, which learning objectives will be evaluated by the NRA Certified Instructor.  I assume that it will cover all aspects of gun handling including application of safe gun handling rules.  It will certainly address grip, firing position and marksmanship.  I believe that there will be a new scored qualification standard.  

If the student passes the hands-on evaluation and meets the shooting standard, the NRA instructor will so indicate on the NRA Instructors Portal as is done now.  Once that is done, the student can print his own course completion certificate.  

So how does all this impact the students?  

There will be a charge for the eLearning portion of the course and no decision has been made yet what the charge will be.   NRA Certified Instructors who have been presenting these courses in the traditional manner will probably charge much less for what they do.  I know that I will.  

Students will be able to register for the course in one of two ways.  As I understand it a student could  

  1.  Register for the NRA Certified Instructor part of the course directly via the Find an NRA Training Course near you webpage.  If this option is used the student would have to successfully complete the eLearning portion of the course before attending the hands-on portion of the course.  

  2.  Register for the eLearning portion and then pick an NRA Certified Instructor for the hands-on portion once he has successfully completed the eLearning portion.

The most significant difference between the traditional approach and Blended Training is in terms of cost and time.  Generally this course should be less expensive for the student but just how much cheaper remains to be seen.  In terms of time required to complete the course the main difference is likely to be reflected in the fact that the student will be able to manage the eLearning part of the course.  You will be able to take as much time as you need to get through the on-line part of the course.  It will be more convenient for students than the way we have been doing it.

This will NOT be an on-line course.   It will be a hybrid presentation.