Why collect learners’ feedback?

How do you know that e-Learning or blended learning is meeting the needs of the learners or the organisation?

How do you show the return on investment of the learning?

With a systematic process that is both established and respected within the organisation it is possible to provide robust data. This data can than be used to answer questions relating to benefits and return on investment. It will also provide evidence of the effectiveness of the learning. This information will assist with future developments as well as improvements to the current learning materials.

How to collect feedback?

Collecting feedback is an appropriate method of gathering information to help inform decisions about return on investment and value to the learners. The following methods can be adopted:

• evaluation of the learners’ initial reaction to the learning by online evaluation or survey
• evaluation of actual learning by online pre and post tests of the learners’ skills and knowledge gained as a result of the learning
• evaluation of behaviour (the transfer of learning) requires 360 degree feedback from managers, peers, service users (if applicable) and learners
• evaluation of results (impact) can be gathered through the use of blogs to collect comments about content, presentation, usability, strategic impact and other issues

Evaluation of return on investment is a long term process. It will be a considerable period of time, possibly a number of years, before you will be able to show the reliable return on investment of e-Learning.