Learning Analytics—More than Just Training Evaluation

What’s the difference between training evaluations and learning analytics? It’s a good question and one that we aim to answer in the upcoming book Learning Analytics: Using Talent Data to Improve Business Outcomes. Join the authors for an Explorance-led webinar as they answer this question as well as give you a sneak peek into the newly published second edition of this valuable measurement text.

Now back to the question

Training evaluation is a topic that has been popularized since the late 1950’s mainly by Donald Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick championed the 4 Levels of Evaluation as a method for measuring the effectiveness of training. The four levels are: Reaction, Learning, Behavior, and Results. Based on this approach, evaluators should ask learners their opinions about various aspects of the quality of training (e.g., environment, instructors, materials, content, etc.) and whether any new knowledge and skills were gained from training. Next, the evaluator should ask whether learning improved on the job performance and had an impact on business measures—productivity, efficiency, customer satisfaction, sales, cycle time, risk, revenue, and others. Other popular methods include the ROI Methodology from Jack and Patti Phillips, the Success Case Method by Robert Brinkerhoff, and the Training Impact Model from Josh Bersin.

Learning analytics is a broader term that encompasses training evaluation.  It accommodates these models and others and has a broader focus on gathering, analyzing, reporting, and using data. Here is a detailed definition of learning analytics from the second edition:

Learning analytics is the science and art of gathering, processing, interpreting data, and communicating results, including recommended decisions and actions related to the efficiency, effectiveness and business impact of development programs designed to improve individual and organizational performance and inform stakeholders.

Many organizational factors influence whether learning analytics will be successful in an organization, and this book addresses many of them. Of course, a good methodology like the 4 Levels of Evaluation or the ROI Methodology helps determine KPIs and establish processes for gathering data. But alignment to business needs is essential to ensure that the L&D team is collecting data that matters to business leaders. Other essential factors include building standard processes that will scale across an organization with hundreds of courses and thousands of learners distributed around the world. Additional storing and coding data and creating and distributing reports and dashboards are also necessary.

On Tuesday, April 21, please join the authors – John Mattox, Peggy Parskey, and Cristina Hall – as they share how learning analytics is relevant to L&D practitioners, how it should be used to determine the effectiveness of talent development programs, and how they can be improved. Topics to be covered include:

• Aligning learning to business needs
• Measuring training for impact
• Applying the Portfolio Evaluation Approach—a ground-breaking new way to measure and report effectiveness
• Using benchmarks to show impact
• Choosing the most valuable success indicators
• Developing a measurement strategy
• Measuring informal learning
• Looking beyond learning analytics to talent analytics

The authors will share a few slides about the book and its content, but this forum is designed for attendees like you to ask questions about learning analytics to suit your specific learning needs.