Plus: How scored labs can improve learner outcomes, drive operational efficiency and demonstrate the ROI of your training and enablement programs.
Plus: How scored labs can improve learner outcomes, drive operational efficiency and demonstrate the ROI of your training and enablement programs.
According to the World Economic Forum,1 more than one billion people will need significant digital reskilling by 2030. This is driving organizations worldwide to look for more effective and measurable methods of assessing, developing and validating technical skills, such as scored labs.
The demand for hands-on, experience-driven learning is becoming increasingly popular as it enables users to practice skills in a safe live environment designed to build job readiness. Research shows 67% of IT professionals want to practice what they’re learning in real-world applications. Augmenting traditional training methods (e.g., PowerPoint presentations, video courses, lectures, etc.) with hands-on environments such as sandboxes, simulations and virtual training labs is a critical first step. But hands-on experience is just one part of the solution to bridging skill gaps.
Read on to learn more about the benefits and use cases for scored labs, automated scoring and skill validation to drive results in outcome-focused training and enablement programs.
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What are scored labs?
Scored labs are hands-on, virtual training labs that are scored or graded, enabling users to demonstrate and validate skills at scale. Scored labs generate valuable data that allows organizations to improve learner outcomes, streamline operations and enable training and enablement teams to validate performance in low- to high-stakes training, practice and certification scenarios.
Scored labs are one of the five types of hands-on learning environments for software. For example, guided training labs provide valuable hands-on practice and interactive instructions to lead users through outcome-focused tasks. However, assessing and validating software skills cannot be accomplished through hands-on practice alone. Scored labs are sometimes referred to as skill validation labs because they take guided training labs a step further by incorporating skill validation.
tl;dr – Scored labs are virtual labs that are scored or graded, enabling skill validation at scale.
Adding scoring capabilities to hands-on experiences enables training and enablement teams to validate that learners can properly apply what they’ve learned by measuring performance. Performance labs provide a more quantifiable approach to workforce skills development, lead to more intentional and adaptive training programs and set learners and organizations up for success.
Scored labs can include performance-based testing (PBT) and/or activity-based assessments (ABA) – both of which allow you to break free from relying solely on multiple-choice and true-false questions, resulting in more accurate skills assessment. Automated scoring for hands-on assessments also helps standardize scoring to improve consistency and accuracy (e.g., eliminating human error and biases).
If you’re new to hands-on virtual labs, also known as virtual IT labs, download our free introductory guide, “How to Get Started with Virtual Labs.”
Skillable’s end-of-lab score reports provide learner-specific feedback and recommended areas for improvement while L&D teams, managers and training professionals can analyze organization-specific skill data at scale. This is just one example of what’s possible on Skillable’s platform.
How does scoring work in virtual lab environments?
Traditionally, scoring in hands-on environments has been a time-intensive and manual process – and in some cases an impossible process – making it difficult for training and enablement teams to scale the value of hands-on learning across their organizations and use cases. As the pioneer in scoring hands-on environments, Skillable offers the most robust capabilities in performance-based labs and automated scoring in virtual labs, including:Scoring scripts
Automatically check a learner’s work against specific outcomes and provide a score based on environment state, task completion and code accuracy.
Embedded questions
Challenge the users to solve a problem and ask them questions about how they solved it to determine if they did it correctly.
Vision Activities
Use AI to analyze the user’s environment and automatically score lab performance based on visual evidence.
We support dichotomous scoring, polytomous scoring and scaled/weighted scoring.
Whether scoring is driven by scripts, AI or embedded questions, the goal is the same: generate objective, hands-on proof of capability. Skillable’s lab scoring engine allows training and enablement leaders to more quickly and effectively gauge a learners’ skill level, provide additional coaching and determine whether they are job ready.
This example shows how scoring works in the Skillable Platform during a scored lab on Microsoft Excel. Scored labs also work for highly configurable environments and high-stakes technical topics like cybersecurity.
Further, our labs have a robust scoring engine and help learners and admin assess how the learner is actually developing or progressing."
Key use cases for skill validation and scored labs
Scored labs are ideal for any scenario where you want to generate high-fidelity skill data that goes beyond proof of knowledge and showcases proof of skill. Use scored labs with automated scoring to generate valuable insights and skill data across your learning ecosystem, including:
Knowledge checks
Activity-based Assessments (ABAs)
Pre-assessments
Certification exams
Practice exams
End-of-module or end-of-course assessments and capstones
The strategic benefits of using scored labs and automated scoring in training curricula, learning paths and exams
Scored labs can be used throughout your learning journeys, giving learners additional time to practice and validate their skills in safe and secure environments.
Measure and showcase training and enablement impact
Scored labs generate data and insights into how learners are progressing through the learning lifecycle. L&D leaders can use this data to iterate on training materials and map training results to business outcomes.
Enhance targeted skill development
Using data from hands-on assessments, L&D teams can easily identify where additional training and enablement is needed. This allows you to create targeted, organizational-specific learning to close skills gaps faster.
Improve the hiring and screening process
Bad hires happen (approximately 80% of employee turnover is due to poor hiring decisions), and replacing bad hires is time-consuming and expensive.
Asking candidates to show that they have your “must-have skills” in a live lab environment such as Skillable Challenges (also called challenge labs) verifies that individuals have the skills they say they do. Improve your talent acquisition process and give hiring managers more time to focus on other elements such as culture and team fit.
Automate lab grading and scoring
Eliminate time-intensive manual scoring and free up Instructors and SMEs to coach learners, develop new courses and strategically iterate on existing training materials. Streamlining operations leads to more adaptable, tailored and robust training and enablement programs.
Real-world examples: Who uses scored labs for skill validation?
Leading technology companies, including Microsoft and CompTIA, leverage performance-based scored labs in their certification exams and training programs. Here’s why: Credibility and quality. A certification is supposed to represent that an individual has proven his or her knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) in the subject matter. Vendors want their certifications to be viewed as valuable and credible. If a technology professional earned a certification because they found an exam dump or crammed, but they cannot actually apply KSAs on the job, it reflects poorly on the credentialing organization. Looking to elevate the market credibility of your certification program? Get your blueprint for maturing certification programs with skill validation, automated scoring and hands-on lab environments.Reduce manual grading hours
Quest Software saved their Instructors 8 to 12 hours a week when they adopted scored labs to automate skill validation and enabled them to scale their certification program. Now Instructors and SMEs are freed up to focus on course development, leaner engagement and more immediate revenue generating opportunities.
Learn more about how Quest Software reduced grading time with automated scoring and skill validation.
Automated real-time feedback
Learn how Majesco is accelerating job readiness and saving time for Instructors with automated real-time evaluation and feedback during training.
Video transcript
Pravin Surve, Senior Specialist, Enterprise and Partner Education, Majesco, said:
“We also have automated [scoring] evaluation in Skillable labs. So often when a learner performs a particular task, he is not confident about his task, whether that is correct or wrong. So, somebody has to evaluate that and many times learners will look for some senior person or a trainer to look into his code and check whether that code is correct or not.
In Skillable, we can write automated code. So, we can write code by using simple programming languages like Python, PowerShell, etc. whereby writing a PowerShell script or Python script we can evaluate automatically whether the code written by the learner is correct or wrong. So, a learner gets immediate feedback. We do not need to personally go and check whether that person has done things correctly or not. It is automatically evaluated.
So earlier when we conducted our trainings we were using virtual environments which were VDIs (virtual desktop infrastructure) and there were dependencies upon how many VDIs we can create and when we can create those VDIs. Once we started using the Skillable environment, our training has actually become scalable. We don’t need to bother about when to start a particular training.
The Skillable environment is always available, and we can start and any learner can start his training anytime, whenever he wants.”
Scored labs are the most effective way to validate skills at scale
Don’t fall into the trap that “completed training” means people are job ready. Would you get into a car with a new driver who took a driver’s ed class, but never got behind the wheel to practice and pass a road test?
Scored labs take the guesswork out of skill development by adding more value to hands-on training labs. Employers can verify candidates and employees’ skills to ensure they’re the right fit for a specific position as well as equip teams with the right people. CSMs can gain customer-specific insights to deliver targeted enablement that accelerates time to value and helps reduce customer support tickets. The data provided by scored reports provides businesses with visibility into current skills, empowering them to improve methods of assessing, developing and validating skills.
Hands-on experiences, such as the ones Skillable can help you build, feature robust scoring tools that accelerate skills development. Our tools go beyond simple “pass/fail” exams and delve deep into learners’ actions, enabling you to improve training and skills development. From measuring skills against real-world tasks and outcomes to real-time Instructor monitoring. Skillable’s hands-on experiences ensure trainees have completely mastered skills.
Stop guessing and start validating skills at scale
Let us show you benefits of performance-based hands-on learning firsthand.
Additional scored labs FAQs
1. What are skill validation labs?
Scored and skill validation labs offer personalized learning experiences by tailoring the scenarios, instructions, difficulty level, role-relevancy and tech stack to the person learning. Skill validation labs require users to demonstrate proficiency through practical application of skills via task-based activities completed in realistic, hands-on environments.
2. What are performance-based labs?
Performance-based labs are a type of hands-on virtual lab that go beyond step-by-step instructions and require users to exercise critical thinking and problem-solving while demonstrating their skills within a realistic environment. For high-stakes certification exams, this helps combat the constant churn of exam dumps, AI and answer guides online, while bolstering the credibility, validity and market value of the certification.
3. What is performance-based testing (PBT)?
Performance-based testing (PBT) is an outcome-based means of assessing a person’s ability to apply their knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) in the real-world scenarios they’ll encounter on the job. This type of testing eliminates the limitations of multiple-choice questions and includes the problem-solving process.
Learn more about performance-based testing for skill validation and certification exams.
4. What is an activity-based assessment (ABA)?
Activity-based assessments (ABAs) are formative evaluations that occur throughout the course or lab to provide immediate feedback to the user. These assessments are designed to identify strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement during the learning process.
5. What are challenge labs?
Challenge labs use the challenge-centric learning methodology – encompassing both activity-based assessments (ABAs) and performance-based testing (PBT) – where people are required to complete scenario-based tasks throughout their skill development. This can include pre-training assessments, assessments during training, formal exam prep and sitting for a certification exam. These challenge-centric experiences provide a more effective way for learners to improve technical skill recall and depth of understanding.
For example, Skillable Challenges utilize a challenge-centric learning modality by presenting tasks to complete or problems to solve. Instead of providing a linear set of instructions to follow, learners are given a scenario and the tools needed before they are prompted to solve the problem.
