Evaluating the effectiveness of corporate e-learning using Kirkpatrick’s four-level model

An important area of opportunity of corporate e-learning resides in the evaluation of its effectiveness. Research on the subject is scarce, and it tends to focus on participants’ satisfaction and learning. Perhaps this is related to the difficulty in doing measurements that include more significant aspects. Maybe it is that companies simply do not publish this type of data. The current paper aims to help filling the resulting knowledge gap by compiling the available literature on the subject, while focusing on Kirkpatrick’s Four-Level Model for evaluating training programs’ effectiveness. E-learning seems to be an effective training modality, when considering employees’ satisfaction, knowledge acquisition, and behavior at the workplace. However, more research is still required to know more about the impact of e-training on business results and the return of investment.