Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Learning Lab podcast. Today's topic is 7 tips on measurable learning objectives. Did you know that e-learning is the most sought after and the most effective tool for training employees in the corporate world? A whopping 72% of organizations state that they believe e-learning puts them at a competitive advantage. Owing to its flexibility, scalability, and numerous other assets, e-learning is a very powerful skill development tool that is a must-have in today's competitive world. It owes part of its success to learning objectives, which need to be systematically defined to make sure that the course brings you the very best results. These objectives are the star of this podcast, so stay tuned for the insights and the how-tos. Well-defined and properly measurable learning objectives are important, especially in the sense that they communicate the company's expectations in a clear and overseeable way. This enables both management and the employees to understand what one expects from the other when it comes to the e-learning program. That kind of communication is what makes success happen. According to Business Wire, it is estimated that the corporate online teaching market will reach a booming value of $50 billion by 2026, as ever more organizations opt for e-learning as part of their employee development and retention strategies. So clearly, knowing how to implement a successful e-learning course is becoming ever more important. Are you ready to find out more about measurable learning objectives? Keep listening, and we'll give you the lowdown on everything you need to know. In order to determine whether your employees are actually aware of what they need to learn when they undertake the learning program, the learning objectives must contain suitable and dependable efficiency judgment standards and effective electronic learning evaluations. Now, we know that those words are a mouthful, but they're important topics that can be explained in far more accessible terms. Really, all we need to say about it is, you need to know what you want your employees to learn and how you can measure how successful their learning is. So here we go. Let's have a look at the how-tos of creating measurable learning objectives. First of all, you need to clearly differentiate between objectives and goals. In short, objectives are the actual outcomes of a learning process, whereas goals are the long-term ideas that underpin them. The objectives are essentially what you expect to see as the outcome of the learning program. It is important to clearly define both terms whilst you are charting the learning objectives for corporate training, as they very much go hand-in-hand. Note that even a slight change in one of the two can change the planning and outlook of the course quite significantly. Two, you need to clearly define the expected learning milestones. It is important to set milestones for the e-learning program and to add them to the learning objectives in order to keep your employees motivated and to inform them where they stand in the program's performance ranking. Additionally, it is a good idea to chart a step-by-step diagram or map of your course so that both you and the learner are very clear in their approach. Another great way to handle this is to create deadlines and set dates, defining the expected completion of a learning milestone. This will gently remind the employee what targets are to be achieved and what skill development will be tested. Three, you need to keep learning objectives in sync with the assessment methodology. It is important that the learning objectives are formulated to follow the previously defined course goals and assessment plans. Otherwise, the method and the objectives will not be guiding learners in the same direction. Knowing how you intend to assess your learners' progress, whether it be with written assignments, quizzes, group work, scenario-based learning, or more, and then aligning these assessment methods with your learning objectives will help make sure that your course is a success. Four, learning objectives must be as precise as possible. Regardless of how much information your learner needs to work with, the learning objectives need to always be precise and clear. There is no space for ambiguity when you need to ensure that your learners know what is expected from them. The details are important, the right wording matters significantly, and putting yourself in your learners' shoes to identify any potential ambiguities is a key step in the process. Five, the objectives must be measurable. The success of the objectives of an e-learning course can only be judged if they are measurable. This process is very important for the evaluation of an employee's performance within a corporate e-learning course, and ensuring that your objectives can be measured in a clear and easy way will help your learners remain motivated as well. In addition, it will show you whether your e-learning course is fully optimized. Seeing their own progress will boost learners' confidence, and making learners aware of the objectives allows them to monitor their own progress throughout the course. Six, the objectives should be realistic and achievable. The learning objectives that are set for employees undertaking training must be achievable and realistic. Otherwise, this is going to end up demotivating your learners, which is definitely not the way to go. Boosting the confidence of your learners will do wonders for their performance, and this all starts with making sure that the objectives can actually be achieved within the planned timeline of the course. Here at the Learning Lab, we never rush into the execution of the e-learning program. We spend considerable time planning. This ensures that the objectives that we set are always realistic, and that we keep the employees motivated throughout their e-learning journey. And finally, number seven, choose appropriate verbs when writing the objectives. The vocabulary that is used in the learning objectives is vital to efficiently communicating the expected requirements. What does this mean? Well, it means that you should choose the correct verbs to use in your learning objectives. These words act as motivators and accelerators. They are the action-based words that positively show your employees the level of performance that is expected. Also, as discussed earlier, it is always a good idea to avoid any words or terminologies that can create ambiguity, or which are too difficult to comprehend. Learning objectives define and determine the entire process of developing your online training program. Their formulation should, therefore, be a priority that is carried out with thorough consideration and care. And these objectives should be tailored as per the needs of the organization. Learning objectives are definitely not a one-size-fits-all. They should always be flexible enough to accommodate any amendments if they are required at any point in the future, but they should be clear enough to support your learners through their e-learning journey. Here at The Learning Lab, we offer plenty of information on e-learning as a whole, so if you want to know more, don't hesitate to have a look at our previous articles on topics including trends, commonly used terms, and the virtually endless benefits of e-learning. Or, continue listening to our podcast and have us tell you all about this. The Learning Lab is an e-learning agency that specializes in creating memorable learning programs for the corporate sector. We have extensive experience of more than 15 years within the industry. We can help your organization develop measurable learning objectives and make the very most of the e-learning experience. Thank you for tuning in to The Learning Lab podcast. We hope you've enjoyed this session, and we hope that you want to be listening to more of our stuff. Stay tuned for more articles. The Learning Lab