How To Write Measurable Learning Objectives For Online Training
No matter what products or services a company provides or how long they've been in business, EVERY organization share a common goal; to develop an online training program that is actually worth the investment. But how you can determine if your online training course is giving your employees the skills and knowledge they need to further your company's success? You must write measurable learning objectives that include reliable criteria and effective eLearning assessments. Here are 6 tips that can help you create learning objectives that are targeted and trackable.
1. Choose Your Action Verbs Wisely
Learning objectives focus on what an employee needs to do upon completion of their online training. It's actionable, which means that an action verb serves as a catalyst. Examples of action verbs are: define, explain, perform, and assemble. These are all terms that can be measured and assessed. At the other end of the spectrum, there are verbs like "understand" or "comprehend," which are vague and difficult, if not impossible, to track. Employees should be able to read the learning objective statement and immediately know what is expected of them and what they need to do to prove their proficiency.
2. Evaluate Your Current Learning Objectives
You may be able to repurpose the learning objectives you've already written by making some minor adjustments. For example, adding in action verbs or clarifying ambiguous language. If you cannot reuse your existing learning objectives, you can learn from them and determine how to improve your current statement. Look back at some of the learning objectives you created for past online training courses. Then, examine your LMS metrics and corporate learner feedback. Did they achieve the desired learning outcomes? Were corporate learners confused about what was expected of them? Use this Big Data to create new learning objectives that are clear, concise, and targeted.
3. Develop Microlearning Objectives
There are certain learning objectives that are just too big for one statement. When this is the case, it's perfectly acceptable to develop microlearning objectives that cover sub-topics, tasks, or skills. "Employees must be able to perform customer service processes" is too broad. Corporate learners don't know what they'll be learning, how it will be measured, or why they are learning it in the first place. As a result, they won't be as motivated to participate, which prevents them from achieving their goals. Microlearning objectives also allow you to track every phase of the online training process, because it provides an in depth explanation of how corporate learners will display their understanding for each section.
4. Determine The Level Of Online Training
According to Bloom's Taxonomy, there are six distinct levels that eLearning professionals should consider when writing a measurable learning objective. These levels have a direct impact on your online training activities, assessments, and content. They also allow you to customize your learning objective statements based on the desired learning outcome and help you determine the ideal method of measurement:
- Remember: A corporate learner's ability to recall information and recognize key concepts and ideas. Multiple choice questions or true/false eLearning assessment statements are frequently used for this category of learning objectives.
- Understand: The capacity to classify, compare, explain, and provide examples. Corporate learners often have to interpret the information by putting it into their own words, such as writing summaries at the end of the online lesson.
- Application: Corporate learners must implement what they've learned by putting their knowledge into practice. This might include real world branching scenarios or online training simulations that test corporate learner proficiency and understanding.
- Analysis: The ability to organize and differentiate information. For example, may be asked to analyze employee performance and attribute certain behaviors to personal cognitions.
- Evaluation: Involves critiques and observations that prompt corprorate learners to draw conclusions. For example, corporate learners evaluate their study habits to figure out how they can improve.
- Creation: Corporate learners are encouraged to plan and produce materials after completing the online lesson. They must use all of the online training resources available to display their understanding, including preexisting knowledge and skills.
Some learning objectives may include a number of different levels. However, it's best to break them into microlearning objectives to avoid confusion and help corporate learners focus on targeted goals.
5. Plan Your Assessment Strategy In Advance
Identify how you are going to measure the learning objectives before crafting your statement. Ideally, the method of assessment should be observable or evaluated by specific criteria. In some instances, you may discover that your learning objectives aren't measurable because you cannot properly assess them. This gives you the opportunity to revise your learning objective statements so that you can measure corporate learner proficiency and performance.
6. Specify The Online Training Criteria
In addition to assessments at the end of your online training module, you should clarify how, when, and how often corporate learners will be evaluated. For instance, you can specify that employees must pass a simulation-based online assessment at the end of their online training. They will be graded on how well they interact with customers and their product knowledge. This lets them know that they should pay careful attention to these aspects of the online training course, because it's an integral part of the evaluation criteria. If possible, mention who will be measuring their progress and how often they will be evaluated.
Learning objectives serve as a guideline for your entire online training course design. Thus, writing them should be your number one priority. Take a closer look at your current online training strategy, as well as any skill or performance gaps that are still plaguing your organization. Remember that learning objectives aren't set in stone, and you should be open to changing them as your needs evolve.
The purpose of your online training should be to equip your staff with the tools, resources, and information they need to be more productive in the workplace. Read the article 7 Tips To Create Purpose Driven Online Training Courses to learn more about how to expand your employees' professional knowledge by creating purpose-driven online training courses that focus on what is really important.
