A Learning Theory I Can Get Behind

This month, I saw an entry on an eLearning forum where the writer was discounting the importance of learning theory. Indeed, I would agree with the writer regarding the flavour of the month learning theories that pop up from time to time. Also, there is a resurgence of learning theories that the industry has discredited that seem to gain new momentum. I suspect the recent revival comes from people writing sarcastic posts about these discredited or unproven learning and people not thoroughly reading or understanding these posts' spirit. That's why I won't mention any of these unproven or discredited theories by name.

Instead, I stick to learning theories that have evidence of being factual or have something more than anecdotal evidence that they work or are practical choices for the industry to adopt. One such approach is Kirkpatrick's levels of evaluation. Donald Kirkpatrick suggested that there were four levels of training evaluation as follows:

1. Reaction

2. Learning

3. Behaviour, and

4. Results

Most notably was that the higher number you could achieve in assessing your learning design and implementation, the results proved to me more conclusive. To help you understand these levels consider the following examples of each level of evaluation.

Reaction or level 1 evaluations are the smile sheets we hand out at the close of instructor-led training. These are the surveys where we ask what learners of the training.

Learning or level 2 evaluations are the assessment that we administer to our learners. We usually require learners to obtain a particular score to prove that they are proficient in the knowledge we have taught them.

Behaviour or level 3 evaluations are when we visit the learner onsite and observe if they have implemented what they learned. You can also achieve this by surveying workplace supervisors.

Results or level 4 evaluations are when we look at the organizational results and see if actual improvement has occurred. You typically would compare this with the goals of training to measure if the training program was successful.

You should not rely on only one method of evaluation. Instead, you should use a combination of these evaluation levels to know if your training was truly effective. Also, you cannot attribute all aspects of these assessments to your training. For example, when we talk about level 4, we usually have to concede that things like seasonality, hiring and firing of workers and other items can affect results.

I seldom use level 1 evaluations in eLearning but prefer to use level 2 assessments to see if they have learned something in the course. Whenever possible, I also like to add a level 3 evaluation where I reach out to the employee's manager at around the 1-month post-training timeframe and determine if the employee has implemented the procedures learned in training. Level 4 is the most difficult to measure. While increased sales are easy to see, some results are not easily reportable and may require extensive research.

Choosing an LMS for Your Organization

There are many reasons why you might be in the market for a Learning Management System (LMS). You might be new to the role of Learning Design and Development Manager, or you might be due to replace an ageing LMS that no longer suits your organization’s needs. In any case, you shouldn’t simply purchase the first LMS that fits your budget. It needs to meet your needs, as well as the needs of your entire organization. The trick is that you might not know what those needs are. Hopefully, this article can help.

What Do Learners Need?

Learners need an LMS that is easy and intuitive. It needs to be able to provide them with the answers they are looking for. Getting your organization to complete the required training is challenging enough. The last thing you want is for your LMS to be a barrier to that training. It should contribute to the motivation to learn.

Think about what competes with the LMS in your organization. Some examples are Google Search, YouTube, other training sites like Lynda.com and so on. All of these have one thing in common. They are all easy to use and there are no barriers to finding what a learner needs and launching it. Your LMS should be the same. Learners should be able to find the training that they want in the same way they Google something. If there is an elaborate login and enrollment process, learners will look for training elsewhere.  

What Do Managers Need?

Managers are busy people. They don't have time to look at complicated reports and chase after their employees for not completing their training. Your LMS should demand minimal amounts of their time. I once worked for an organization that was capable of producing completion reports for all the learners who completed training. This report was sent to managers so they could follow up on their employees who hadn't completed training. The irony was that the report only showed a list of employees who had completed the training. This was the exact opposite of the information managers needed. Needless to say, Managers want reporting that helps them do their job, not add additional work for them.

Managers also need to be part of the evaluation process. When learners complete training, at some point in the future we need to hear from managers if their employees have shown improvement in the areas related to the training. This should be an automated process and shouldn't be complicated for the manager to complete. A lengthy survey isn't necessary. You usually only need to ask one or maybe two questions relating to the improvement of employee performance.

What Do You Need?

The number one thing a learning design manager needs from an LMS is the ability to report on employee results. Think about it. What does the CEO, or the VP of Human Resources want to know when they come calling. I would say there are four things your LMS needs to tell you through reporting in the following order:

1. Employees ability to perform their job

2. Employee compliance with regulatory training

3. Employee immediate reaction to training

4. Test results

You might be thinking that this order is incorrect but I assure you that items like test results or smile sheets, while important, are at the bottom of my list. The reason is that an employee's ability to pass a written exam in an eLearning or classroom setting is not an indicator of an employee's ability to perform their job. The best way to measure employees ability to perform their job is to information from their manager some time after employees have completed training (Level 3). As for compliance, while this may not be the priority for an organization, not being fined by regulatory bodies, or sued for safety violations is a priority.

At your next meeting with potential LMS vendors, you will be better equipped to address what your potential next LMS can do for you.