What's Learning Operations Analytics? [BONUS]

We've already defined three categories of learning analytics:

1. Learning experience analytics, which answer questions about specific learning activities
2. Learner analytics, which answer questions about a specific person or group of people engaged in learning activities
3. Learning program analytics, which answer questions about an overall learning program’s impact on the organization

These categories all look at the “finished product" and seek to understand learning as it's happening. Mostly, these analytics seek to quantify the benefit of learning (or lack thereof).

Bonus Category: Learning Operations Analytics

Learning operations analytics, on the other hand, seek to understand more about the costs of learning. These analytics seek insights into the production and efficiency of the team creating learning programs and experiences, such as:

• How long does it take to produce one hour of elearning?
• How proficient are my staff members in meeting production deadlines?
• What are the utilization rates of my instructors?
• How quickly do we react to organizational needs?

For many, establishing the return on investment (ROI) of a learning program can be the holy grail of learning analytics. ROI requires quantification of both the costs and the benefits. Once those are established, learning operations analytics become a powerful tool to use in optimizing the ROI of a learning program or department.

Up Next: Getting Started with Learning Analytics

In our next post, we'll go over a quick-start guide to help you get started with your own learning analytics program. Subscribe to Watershed Insights to receive L&D industry updates, helpful advice, and more!