Towards an Education Evaluation Framework: Synchronous and Asynchronous E-Learning Cases
Date
2006Author
Omwenga, Elijah
Rodrigues, Anthony
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) are the computing and communications facilities
and features that variously support teaching, learning, and a range of activities in education. It has always
been assumed that ICTs can bring about positive change not only to the instructional process but also in
the learning arena. The issue of flexible learning that is independent of pace and space has often been
cited as a hallmark of ICTs in education. However, the application of these ICTs to education in
developing countries at both the experimental and developmental levels has often been characterized, in
general, by inconsistent, weak, or non existent evaluation methodologies, thereby increasing the risk that
the role of ICTs in the improvement of education in developing countries is not sustainable.
Factors that influence the process of learning in the e-learning environment were the subject of study in
the development and application of an e-learning evaluation model. These factors are interrelated and
they influence the process to varying degrees. This model is intended to help content developers, elearning
designers and instructors to evaluate and validate an e-learning innovation. The framework
considers two broad issues: technology mediation and system perspective. Within these, we consider
generic perspectives: in the case of technology mediation we have structure, process and outcome, while
in the case of systems perspective, we have the technical, human and education levels respectively. The
evaluation methodology has been used in an e-learning case study in sub-Saharan Africa and it is
expected to extend further to facilitate generalization of the model in different educational settings.
Citation
Journal of the Research Center for Educational Technology (RCET) Vol. 2, No. 1Publisher
Research Centre for Education and Technology School of Computing and Informatics