Once a year, we like to ask our different groups of learners what they think about our courses. We ask them what they like and what they don't like. We also ask them what improvements in performance they've seen as a result. Then we go one step further and ask their managers what results they've seen. That's level 2 and 3 feedback...the best we can do without imperical measurments, which are tough to come by. So many factors come into play, it can be next to impossible to isolate the results of our elearning. Still, the feedback we do get can be valuable in helping us deliver the most effective solutions possible.

Recently, we asked a group of learners about the 3D immersive simulations and avatars we develop for sales training. Here's the data...

Nice results. The avatars and sims are valued. But what other results can we put our fingers on? Well, this is what managers told us they see in the behaviors of salespeople, as a result of our training:

Now, the big question: Did the courses actually increase sales? Again, this is the managers talking (with almost the same response as the salespersons themselves):

On average, the increase in sales is just over 8%. Even if this is half right, that much increase in sales turns out to be a great ROI. Now, let's turn to one more question, about what learners like best about the avatars and simulations.

To us, these numbers are pretty satisfying. It says we're on the right course, and we'll use the feedback to go even further in this direction.

We'd love to hear what results you may have gotten with simulations. Or, if you've got any questions we can answer, we're here to help. What's the right strategy for using avatars? How is the instructional design different in simulations? How can we take these results and apply them to our specific needs? Just post a comment here, or connect with Jack, at the phone number or email address below.

From my desk, three different stakeholders in the social learning arena: learners, training managers, and designer/developers.

It seems as designers, we are always excited about what's new (ahead of the curve). Understandably cautious, I usually read managers as somewhat behind the curve. And in the case of social learning,  you could argue that learners are the curve.

One of our large clients that's been holding back on social learning for a couple of years has just decided to move ahead for 2010. Looks like we'll be combining blogs with some YouTube-like submissions from users, where the submissions are focused on quarterly topics. Ratings on the submissions will tie to the e-learning reward system that's already in place (these are non-employee learners).

Because of this, as part of our annual learner survey, we decided to ask learners what resources they already use for personal and/or professional learning. LIVE results are posted in the widget above.

These results are from a real mix of ages from the 20-somethings to the 50-somethings, and unfortunately we don't have specific age or gender demographics. Still, I was pretty encouraged by the response we got.

Now's the time for you to add more depth to our survey. Are you already involved in using social learning tools? How's it going? And if you aren't doing any social learning yet, do you think your learners already have a head start on you?