Measurement of outcomes in virtual environments

Virtual human resource development (VHRD) creates a virtual environment (Bennett, 2009). As virtual environments become pervasive as instructional and learning spaces, evidence of their effectiveness is still in the early stages of development. As these learning spaces gain acceptance and adoption in HRD practice, more comprehensive and strategic approaches to evaluation are needed. Through a study of literature and qualitative case study, the authors investigate evaluation practices used in virtual worlds, and discuss how they are relevant to VHRD. Although many traditional forms of assessment are still being utilized, findings indicate that virtual worlds offer the opportunity to incorporate richer and more authentic forms of assessment, particularly, when evaluating learning artifacts.