EDUCAUSE | Contributed by Organizations or Campuses; Articles, Papers, and Reports; and Assessment and Evaluation

Exploring Tangible Benefits of e-Learning: Does Investment Yield Interest?

ckeller — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:40:38 -0500

The first decade of the 21st century is already on the wane and we stand at an interesting point as regards the use of technology to support and enhance learning and teaching. The fact that we still refer to much of this enhancement as e-learning (and still disagree about what the term actually means) signals that the relationship between technology and learning is not as yet an entirely comfortable one. e-Learning still carries with it a sense of something 'other' and few institutions can say that a sound understanding of available technologies, their capabilities and current examples of appropriate usage, forms a cornerstone of the curriculum design process.

Within the academic community there remains a sizable proportion of sceptics who question the value of some of the tools and approaches and perhaps an even greater proportion who are unaware of the full range of technological enhancements in current use. Amongst senior managers there is a concern that it is often difficult to quantify the returns achieved on the investment in such technologies.

On the other hand those in the vanguard of technical developments are already signalling the 'Death of the VLE' (Stiles 2007) and heralding a new set of approaches based on a different pedagogic outlook and on the underlying technologies and social and collaborative tools that are collectively labelled the Web 2.0 phenomenon.

A Framework for Assessing Learning Outcomes in Online Business Simulations

ckeller — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 10:52:14 -0600

This paper explores a framework for assessing effectiveness in online business simulations geared towards business students.

Assessment From the Faculty Point of View

ckeller — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 09:39:55 -0600

Anthropologists say professors should stop looking at measuring outcomes as an external threat and start taking ownership of the process.

Another Call for Assessment

ckeller — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 10:06:32 -0600

"As college associations unveil new ways for colleges to report on what they do, and Congress debates how much accreditors should ask of colleges, an effort has been going on for months to craft a national statement on student learning and assessment. "

Online Education: Tailoring, Measuring and ‘Bridging’

ckeller — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 09:54:15 -0500

An announcement from Blackboard, a collection of studies and new techniques all attempt to improve, and assess, what students are learning online.

Meeting of the Minds

ckeller — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 11:25:20 -0500

"With federal backing, 3 higher ed groups will undertake project to develop multiple ways of measuring student learning — answering call for accountability, but with colleges in the driver’s seat."

Using Blogs for Formative Assessment and Interactive Teaching

ckeller — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 16:05:10 -0500

This case study shows how students were taught the skills they need to find information relevant to their subject area. As groups of students are generally seen once only, measures to assess the effectiveness of teaching are needed, i.e. to determine the skills the students have acquired. Blogs were used as a tool for formative assessment and were used to measure student expectations before teaching, and their level of satisfaction with the session afterwards. The blog [1] helps the tutor to understand if learning outcomes have been achieved and whether the session has met student expectations. It also requires students to reflect on the skills that they have acquired.

In Support of the E-Test

ckeller — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 10:42:25 -0500

"Critics of testing through the computer often argue that it’s difficult to tell if students are doing their own work. It’s also unclear to some professors whether using the technology is worth their while. A new study makes the argument that giving electronic tests can actually reduce cheating and save faculty time. "

A Framework for Evaluating the Quality of Multimedia Learning Resources

ckeller — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 10:28:24 -0500

This article presents the structure and theoretical foundations of the Learning Object Review Instrument
(LORI), an evaluation aid available through the E-Learning Research and Assessment Network at
http://www.elera.net. A primary goal of LORI is to balance assessment validity with efficiency of the
evaluation process. The instrument enables learning object users to create reviews consisting of ratings and comments on nine dimensions of quality: content quality, learning goal alignment, feedback and adaptation, motivation, presentation design, interaction usability, accessibility, reusability, and standards compliance. The article presents research and practices relevant to these dimensions and describes how each dimension can be interpreted to evaluate multimedia learning resources.

Minimum Indicators to Assure Quality of LMS-supported Blended Learning

ckeller — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 11:15:31 -0500

This study describes a set of institutional indicators that suggest minimum standards for the quality
assurance of learning supported by learning management systems in blended contexts. The indicators are evaluated by comparing seven universities that use a common learning management system to support student learning experiences. The responses to a qualitative questionnaire provide evidence of how the participating universities approach leadership, policy making, development, and evaluation as they relate to the quality assurance of learning management systems. A comparison among the universities reveals that they tend to have a better understanding of technical rather than educational issues related to quality assurance. A case is made for the need for universities to address key areas in order to reliably assure the quality of learning supported by learning management systems.