eLearning has become a quintessential training need of the modern-day worker. Technology is going through a rapid transformation; hence continuous skills’ enhancement has become necessary.

The HR (Human Resources) in a company organizes skills training program to ensure that the employees become acquainted with the crucial processes.

A skills training program is created and delivered to the new employees and the old ones to ensure that they have maximum productivity. It’s because sometimes software used in a company is upgraded, which makes it essential to retrain employees.

Why is skills training important?

The workforce also takes a keen interest in learning now because nowadays, they are proactive. They desire to get salary hikes based on their skills. And they use MOOC-based certifications for skill increments.

Hence, every company must either reimburse them for the costs of such certifications to earn their loyalty or organize an LMS for in-house skills training program.

Therefore, companies need to be aware of the LMS required. They need to take the following considerations into account while getting an LMS.

Ease of content modification:

It needs to be compatible with the current software used by the company. This kind of software includes the authoring software used by the company. If the content created by this software can’t be hosted on an LMS, then it’s no use getting the latter.

On the other hand, LMS have authoring tools integrated with them, too, to solve both content creation and hosting purposes. For example, with a course editor in the LMS, you can create new content and even edit the existing one, including posts and quizzes, etc. getting an LMS with an authoring tool and without one varies with the need of the company.

With an inbuilt authoring tool, the content editing work is expedited because if the learning analytics are not as per expectations, the LMS admin can change the content after consulting the SME. But if the authoring tool is standalone, the editing job is done by the multimedia developer and then hand it over to the LMS admin for uploading.

Portability:

The businesses should know that an inbuilt authoring tool can be used to create content hosted on only the concerned LMS. But this is not the case with the standalone authoring tool, which produces SCORM-compliant content that can be used on any LMS. This is a serious advantage when you want to upgrade to a different LMS in the future, but your course can’t be ported because it’s not SCORM compliant.

Generally speaking, an inbuilt authoring tool can’t create SCORM content, and the user has to convert the content created into such a format. Hence, an organization using such software needs a developer to create JavaScript, HTML, and flash files for the SCORM format, which can be uploaded to another LMS.

The eLearning community is divided on the issue of whether the third-party authoring tool is better because it can help create usable courses compared to a built-in authoring tool. The standalone authoring tools also have advanced features that allow content creators to curate more focused courses. The standalone authoring tools also allow other users to resolve their confusions through online discussion forums created by the developers of such tools.

Affordability:

The standalone authoring tool requires a license for individual users, after which the company can access it on every laptop. However, there are also costs associated with an inbuilt authoring tool associated with an LMS.

Schools can’t afford a standalone authoring tool because everyone can’t be given a third-party authoring tool. After all, it requires a license for each user. But inbuilt authoring tools don’t have such restraining costs, so they can be used in schools where teachers can use them to create content for students. In schools, teachers might require teaching some software to students, and hence they need screencasts that can’t be taken with an inbuilt authoring tool.

But the need for using a standalone authoring tool is even more pronounced in a corporate setting, where employees must be taught software regularly. A standalone(third-party) authoring tool allows you to create advanced character-based simulations and games due to features such as motion paths and triggers, which isn’t possible with inbuilt authoring tools. They also allow the users to create more advanced triggers due to the HTML5 programming enabled. The built-in authoring tools enabled in an LMS allow one to upload such content, it’s not possible to create it in these tools.

When a company provides a skills training program, it can’t ignore the need for simulations and branching scenario-based quizzes because the employees need retention of such skills, which is only possible through gamification. Hence, using standalone authoring tools is a must in such training.

Moreover, it depends on the learning experience provided to the learner. For example, in case simulations have to be created in the course to facilitate complex learning, it’s better to use a third-party authoring tool with HTML5 programming. But if the online course just needs to include PDF documents, then the content creators can rely on built-in authoring tools.

Hence, the training needs of an organization help it in choosing an authoring tool.

Hence, it’s better to use the Kirkpatrick model to decide whether the training program has led to an improvement in the worker’s performance.

In fact, this model can be used after the implementation of the training program to decide whether it will yield the intended results.

The 1st level of this model is Reaction which decides how the participants respond to training, whether they were happy with it, the second level Learning sees whether the participants understood anything taught in the training, so whether their skills really increased. Are they applying the increased skills to their work i.e. Behavior is the third level and after their improved performance whether the business will see an increase in profits, i.e. the last level Results.

Measurement at the Reaction level

So when a prototype of the training program, has been developed it can be shown to the employees. Their responses can be recorded on the smile sheet. So, depending on the face chosen by him, it can be gauged whether the learner was delighted by the program or not. Henceforth, if the learners’ response is not positive, the program will have to be developed from scratch. The training program needs to be evaluated at all stages of the Kirkpatrick model and once a negative response is received, its development has to be stopped.

Measurement at the Learning level

As far as the efficiency of the test for the second level of Learning is concerned, it has to be done through tests. These tests can be in verbal or written form, and the learners must take them before and after they have undergone the training. Hence, the companies must have two versions of these tests (pre-training and post-training).

When the verbal forms of tests are used, it can involve a lot of time and consistent scoring might not be there depending on who is the interviewer. The comparison of the results of such versions makes the company know how successful will be the training program in skill enhancement. Moreover, there should be a well-defined scoring report for consistent results.

Measurement at the Behavior level

As far as the third level of the Kirkpatrick model is concerned, it’s quite crucial to know whether the training program will be effective in changing the work performance of employees. For checking the efficacy of the program for this level, the learners have to be assessed three-six months after they have undergone training.

For the Learning and Development program, measuring the program’s effectiveness at this level is a bit difficult because it’s impossible to know when an employee will start using his newly imbibed knowledge. Hence, it’s important to observe the participants’ behavior sometime after the training has been imparted.

Measurement at the Results level

For senior individuals, in particular, yearly evaluations and regular arrangements of key business targets are essential in order to accurately evaluate business results that are because of the training program.

The individuals who are in senior management positions can be assessed for efficacy at this level. You can check whether the higher-level managers are able to meet their KPI’s and if so, is it after the delivery of the training programs. For lower-level employees, it’s significant to check whether there is an improvement in the quality of products and fewer pieces are getting rejected due to being defective.

So, this is how a company can measure whether a training program can be checked for its effectiveness through the Kirkpatrick model.

Tag: TRAINING PROGRAM

How does an LMS affect skills training in an organization?

Hence, every company must either reimburse them for the costs of such certifications to earn their loyalty or organize an LMS for in-house skills training program.

How can a company measure whether a training program will be useful or not?

Hence, it’s better to use the Kirkpatrick model to decide whether the training program has led to an improvement in the worker’s performance.