ABSTRACT
This chapter explores what eLearning leaders should know about learning effectiveness. It briefly examines the community of inquiry (CoI) framework, a widely researched pedagogical model for the design of high-quality online learning environments. The chapter advocates for eLearning leaders to make themselves particularly knowledgeable about the efficacy of their own unique eLearning contexts through the collection and analysis of empirical data. It describes the role of learning analytics and data-based decision-making and advocates for exploring the inputs and processes of learning, as well as learning outcomes. The chapter also describes two different approaches to ensuring quality in the design of online courses, along with several approaches to measuring learning processes, including the CoI survey. It identifies a variety of outcome measures that are useful in this environment. Leaders should keep in mind that online learning is different from traditional learning and that the online environment has affordances and constraints that differ from the face-to-face classrooms.
