eLearning Development: Building on the Kirkpatrick Model

In the current corporate arena which is more like a whirlwind, eLearning can serve as a reliable medium of knowledge dissemination; as it possesses numerous virtues; namely, scalability (especially during the expansion of business), flexibility (considering convenience for employees and firms), and of all, cost-efficiency is the outstanding factor among them.

You can imagine a situation wherein both a global workforce, working from a busy metropolis, and employees from a tranquil countryside are able to tap into the massive level of knowledge by using their laptops or compact-sized mobile devices.

This way with each click and swipe, the walls are broken -- geographical constraints of distance and time.

In other words, this digital uprising allows all employees to have access to the learning materials, irrespective of where they are situated in the globe.

The best example would be newly joined executives in the sales department enhancing their negotiation prowess, from Redmond, Washington, through an interactive eLearning module.

Similarly, a software professional in Delhi, India, is munching his meal during lunchtime and also upskilling himself on a new programming language especially complex codes without many problems.

Thus, in many ways, eLearning stands as an unmatched competitor; it serves always like some mentor, who is ever-ready to help and enlighten the trainees.

Yet, unfortunately, amidst this digital usefulness which aids in absorbing knowledge quickly, a greater question looms large and that is, how precisely can we gauge its true impact?

Should we go by the number of ‘aha!’ moments or should we have a look at the tangible uptick considering overall productivity after a training is completed?

Also, it is equally essential to remember that the impact of eLearning isn’t only concerned with the crunching of data; it’s more about capturing successful stories of trainees -- the tales of transformation or charting their growth trajectories that have soared high and wide, much like an eagle.

So keeping these aspects in consideration, the appropriate solution for such aspects will be eLearning courseware built on the Kirkpatrick Model.

The Kirkpatrick Model: A Foundation for eLearning Evaluation

An illustrious guidepost --  Kirkpatrick Model (created by Dr. Donald Kirkpatrick) -- for evaluating the effectiveness of training sessions has been incorporated in the current days in eLearning courseware. Each stage of the Kirkpatrick Model represents one of the four-tiered phases of assessments to create a learner-friendly and impactful eLearning course. Let's have a detailed look at it and all the four phases associated with it. 

Level 1 -- Reaction: In this round, the intention is to focus on finding out what the participants feel about the training  -- their reactions and feedback. So as a company, you may ask the trainees about their sentiments post-training with emojis or with questions such as were they enthralled after training sessions? 

You can further ask whether they felt like their time was well-invested and did they enjoyed the session or if was it useful to them. While this stratum doesn’t give us a complete idea of whether we’ve hit our targets, it does help to understand the learner’s voyage through the learning material. 

For example, suppose some sales warriors are on a quest to gain knowledge about negotiations or other sales techniques. Their faces with beaming smiles and eager nods might give a hint at their contention level about the training; on the other hand, the majority of the individuals with furrowed brows or stifled yawns during a training program could indicate improvement areas. Feedback from the trainees would assist to gather information on the part that left the participants bored and uninterested. 

Level 2 -- Learning: After training it is vital to get an answer on whether the participants absorbed knowledge from the learning material or did they face any problems. This can be figured out by measuring and then comparing their pre- and post-training quiz scores as per this Kirkpatrick Model phase. In such cases, after the course, if learners manage to give answers to more questions accurately, then it can be a win-win situation and if not, there is a need to fine-tune the way teaching is approached. 

For example: suppose there is a safety training eLearning course that covers various types of fire evacuation procedures and if learners happen to struggle with certain topics consistently (such as the use of different fire extinguishers or safety methods), then it becomes necessary to revisit the teaching methods, questioning how the learning material can be made better and presented clearly?

Level 3 -- Behavior: In this Kirkpatrick Model stage, it is essential to understand how the training has helped participants; especially, their behavior in terms of dealing with the situation, juniors, and teammates, or were they able to apply what they have learned. 

For instance, suppose an eLearning program is designed to understand the leadership skills of team leaders, say active listening skills. In such cases, it will become mandatory to observe how well are the managers able to engage with their teams.

Another example would be: post training session based on customer service, did agents from the call center utilize the recommended empathy? If they did employ the taught tactics, this would indicate that training had a positive influence over their behavior.

Level 4 -- Results: In this particular stage of the Kirkpatrick Model, processes are put in place to find out whether the training yielded tangible results. This is done by finding answers to questions such as: did the training help to improve the performance of the team members as well as the productivity, or did it aid in enhancing the profitability? 

For instance, suppose resource allocation was one of the objectives while project managers were trained. Then after training sessions are over, it would be necessary to measure project timelines along with cost savings. 

Another example would be: suppose agile methodology training is provided to a software development team through an eLearning courseware. Then post-training, assessments will be made whether project delivery time has decreased or not, and whether client satisfaction has soared.

An Overview of Strengths of the Kirkpatrick Model

The structure is more than just a pretty framework as it has a lot to offer in terms of providing comprehensive understanding to the learners and hence it’s a powerhouse. Given hereunder are more reasons why it is a hit among eLearning development companies:

Comprehensive Approach: It covers the full spectrum of possible hurdles and helps to address them -- from initial reactions to real-world outcomes -- no blind spots here!

Actionable Insights: Each level of the Kirkpatrick model gives clarity in regard to the specific improvements. It’s like having some kind of idea about where exactly is the training heading and what is room for improvement.

Holistic View: By considering reactions, learning, behavior, and results, firms get to see the big picture and can take the required action required for further training.

Conclusion 
The inclusion of the Kirkpatrick model in eLearning courseware can help to enhance the course in many ways and create learner-friendly and impactful learning material.

If you as a firm or educational entity are interested in incorporating the Kirkpatrick model in your eLearning courseware, then you can contact VK Creative Learning (VKCL). This eLearning company has vast experience in developing different types of eLearning content based on the requirements.