Will at Work Learning

Assessment Guru Hints at Trends Relevant to Learning Professionals

Learning professionals (like me) can often gain insights about our industry from people in the field who have different vantage points than our own. I recently talked with Eric Shepherd, CEO of Questionmark, to get a sense of our industry and how it has been affected by the bad economy. Eric has been a good friend and long-time supporter of my research over the years and I've come to value his counsel.

Questionmark is the leading provider of assessment software according to a recent eLearning Guild study. I thought from his perch overseeing all-things-assessment, Eric might be able to give us some unique insight into the learning-and-performance field in general.

Check out my interview with him at the recent Guild conference. I divided it into two parts to make viewing easier.

Part 1: What trends do you see that we may be missing? 

Another Smile Sheet Improvement

Last year I wrote at length about my efforts to improve my own smile sheets. It turns out that this is an evolving effort as I continue to learn from my learners and my experience.

Check out my new 2009 version.

You may remember that one of the major improvements in my smile sheet was to ask learners about the value and newness of EACH CONCEPT TAUGHT (or at least each MAJOR concept). This is beneficial because people respond more accurately to specifics than to generalities, they respond better to concrete learning points than to the vague semblance of a full learning experience.

What I forgot in my previous version was the importance of getting specific feedback on how well I taught each concept. Doh!

My latest version adds a column for how well each concept is taught. There is absolutely no more room to add any columns (I didn't think I could fit this latest one in), so I suppose this may allow diminishing returns on any more improvements.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

Famous Measuring-Training Story from Neil Rackham

Here's the link to Neil Rackham's famous story on the dangers of measuring training only with smile sheets.

Learning Landscape Model Annotated

Last June, I blogged about the Learning Landscape Model, a visual model that shows how learning becomes performance and creates results. It's based on years of research and I have found it very helpful in (1) clarifying my own thoughts, in (2) helping other learning-and-performance professionals fully understand their roles/goals, and in (3) explaining training-and-development to business (non-learning) stakeholders.

I have now created an annotated slide deck to introduce the Learning Landscape Model. It also includes insights and new opportunities for how we can measure learning.

Check it out, and let me know what you think.

New Webinoshes Announced -- Smile Sheets & Context

FREE Brown Bag Learning Webinoshes

My Brown Bag Learning webinoshes are short, intimate webinars covering one essential topic in human learning and performance. I add questions, learning myths, and question-and-answer sessions (where you can ask me anything) to the mix to keep things interesting. These Brown Bag Learning experiences are provided using a "Subscription Learning" methodology, so that themes will be repeated over time for deeper, more impactful learning.

Upcoming Schedule:

Friday November 7th, Noon U.S. East Coast Time

Can We Improve Our Smile Sheets?

Link to Register: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/345686876

 

 

Friday November 21st, Noon U.S. East Coast Time

Does Context Matter?

Link to Register:

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/796752726

 

New: Now Available through both the phone and VOIP so folks from around the world can attend.

Learning Measurement eLearning Guild Stuff

I've been busy again thinking about the nexus between LEARNING and LEARNING MEASUREMENT.

You can peruse some of my previous thoughts on learning measurement by clicking here.

Here is a brand new article that I wrote for the eLearning Guild on how to evaluate Learning 2.0 stuff. Note: Learning 2.0 is defined (by the eLearning Guild) as: The idea of learning through digital connections and peer collaboration, enhanced by technologies driving Web 2.0. Users/Learners are empowered
to search, create, and collaborate, in order to fulfill intrinsic needs to learn new information. Evaluating Learning 2.0 differs from evaluating traditional Learning 1.0 training for many reasons, one of which is that Learning 2.0 enables (encourages) learners to create their own content.

Steve Wexler, Director of Research and Emerging Technologies at the eLearning Guild, and I are leading a Webinar on Thursday September 4th on the current state of eLearning Measurement. We've got some new data that we're hot to share.

Finally, Roy Pollock, one of the authors of the classic book, Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning, and I are leading a one-day symposium on measuring learning at the eLearning Guild's DevLearn 2008 conference in November. It's a great chance to go to one of the best eLearning conferences around while working with Roy and I in a fairly intimate workshop, wrangling with the newest thinking in how to measure learning. Choose Symposium S-4. Note that it may not show Roy's information there yet--the Guild is still working on the webpage--but let me assure you that Roy and I are equal partners in this one.

New Measurement Job Aid

I've developed three separate several job aids in regards to learning measurement over the last few years, and I decided recently that 1 was enough, so I've integrated the wisdom from all three into one job aid, which I now make available to you for free.

This job aid has several advantages:

1. It's inspired by honest-to-goodness learning research.
2. It fits onto one page.
3. It provides a brief rationale for each point.
4. It prompts users to audit their current practices.
5. It prompts users to take action for improvement.
6. It includes contact information for further inquiries.
7. It covers critical measurement-design issues.
8. It's free.

Click here to download the job aid now.