ABSTRACT
As electronic knowledge networks transform the way we teach and learn, we need to develop appropriate methodologies and tools for evaluating online learning. The key features of online learning – time-independence, text format, computer mediation, multiple threads of conversation, and fluid participation patterns – pose particular kinds of challenge. Online learning designs, in my experience at least, tend to be based on constructivist and learner-centered principles that act to increase learners’ control, facilitate the sharing of multiple perspectives, and emphasize encouraging individual learners to create their own meaning (Jonassen et al. 1995; Wilson and Lowry 2001). Achieving behavioral objectives with the same stated outcome for all learners is not the goal of many online learning projects. Traditional evaluation methods used to evaluate learning within the four walls of a classroom do not transfer well to the online context. Therefore, evaluators need to understand the inherent distinguishing features of online activity and its social and ecological structure so that they may adopt new principles appropriate for evaluating learning.
