Formative Evaluation Plan for Online Course
lgillisÓ 2001
Develop a formative evaluation plan for the course you are going to teach online. (How will you determine if your course is on target when it comes to accessibility, effectiveness, impact, and quality of instruction?)

How will you measure the following?

I. Accessibility:

Do my online students have adequate access to the instructor? (To avoid unnecessary frustration, it is important to respond to students in a timely manner.)

The teacher will contact students through email, chat, ITV, reflective journaling, and blog postings. The instructor will answer email within the same day, unless a notification of absence (student or teacher) is posted. The teacher will schedule at least on chat session per week with each student. The class will require a face-to-face ITV session with the instructor at least once a week for the first six weeks. Student will be given the instructor’s alternative contact information (office phone, cell phone, email, and office address).

The course will include reflective journal writing once a week. The journal writing will help the instructor to learn how well the students are performing and who needs intervention. Formative surveys will be conducted each 6 weeks so that the course may be modified to suit the participants.

Do my online students have trouble accessing their online course materials? (Many students spend unnecessary time trying to access their online courses.)

Besides monitoring student progress and communication, onsite liaisons will be asked to send communications describing any access issues that students may encounter. Students will also have the opportunity to send questions to the FAQ part of the DB to discuss access issues.

How-to’s would assist students in learning the system along with videos and/or audio instructions. Students would be asked to rate each How-to section so the course instructor could strengthen those offerings.

How can I ensure the perception of distance does not exist between student and instructor? (It is important that the online student "feels" the presence of the teacher.)

Perception is individual by nature. Each student will require a different amount of instructor interaction. The way to ensure that each student has the amount of teacher contact that is required is to allow students to contact the teacher through email or chat sessions on an individual basis.

II. Effectiveness:

Are my instructions stated clearly? (Since online students are not able to ask their instructor directly for clarification, it is important they understand exactly what they are suppose to do in any given assignment or required task.)

Example: Keep a record of requests for further explanations for assignments and tasks.

I have run online courses before and when I find a FAQ about a particular section in a module, I know that I probably need to rework or restate that segment of the module or instruction.

When several students submit work that has to be re-addressed through a growth plan it is necessary for me to clarify either the activity or the instructional piece to be more effective.

Are my activities effective in producing the learning outcomes specified in my course? (All activities should be germane in helping the student develop in the knowledge or skills stated in the objectives.)

Helping students discuss new material on the DB before requiring them to create a product helps students to have better outcomes. Giving models and clear instructions also helps student to follow format and to produce better content.

Providing students the opportunity to build rubrics for their products also insures that students understand the assignment. Discussing and evaluating the rubrics first help students to think more deeply about their product.

How can I be sure all learning styles will be accommodated within my online course? (It is important that all students learning styles be addressed when designing an online course.)

For each large “chunk” of information the instructor will offer different ways of approaching the material (audio, video, graphics, animations, text, scavenger hunt, and puzzles or games)

Is my online orientation letter effective? (Critical to establish an initial comfort zone within the online environment for my first time distance student.)

The online orientation letter will need to include:

-Welcome to the course

-Brief introduction of the instructor

-Contact information

-Course information (access to course Website)

-Course requirements (pre-requisites, books, access information)

-Office hours and course dates & times

-Links to course, FAQ, Instructor’s Page, Syllabus

-Helpful hints for successfully completing course.

What can I do to make my online course more effective for the distance student? (It is important that the online course is meeting all the needs of the distance student.)

(1) Make sure the course is relevant with real-world application

(2) Allow students to submit reflective journals and

(3) Provide students with formative evaluations during the course of the class so that instruction can be responsive to student’s needs.

III. Impact:

How can I find out how my students feel about the course and determine what is working and not working for them? (Instructors in online courses do not have the benefit of face-to-face contact with students which offer visual clues to a student's understanding about the course and its requirements.)

How can I assure my online students will participate? (It is easy for a member of an online class to become "lost" or hidden.)

Setting up clear expectations of how often and how many points will be awarded for participation on the DB, file uploading, submission of journals, and interactive chats or ITV sessions.

Is my online course equivalent in rigor to its traditional class counterpart? (Course objectives for an online course should be the same as those in a traditional class. The online student should achieve to the same level of mastery regardless of method of delivery.)

Key concepts and skills would have to be demonstrated via student product to determine mastery of the essential knowledge and skills. Activities that demonstrate knowledge and skills would be a vital part of each module. Activities might include a student-created product (Ex: Web page, PowerPoint, or Video), a discussion on the DB, a file uploaded to the blog or a new thread that challenged the thinking of other students. Activities would need to demonstrate not only a course concept but also the level of thinking appropriate to the course goals.

IV. Quality of Instruction:

Are my students able to read and understand content material? (Reading from a monitor is different than reading from a textbook.)

My courses do not use textbooks. I use online resources for all the content or create Web content myself. This allows students to stay in the media for which they are writing (i.e. Web pages or video). I have found that I try to cram toooo much content into one lesson and have worked very hard to break up content into more manageable pieces. This is my greatest sin. As students become more successful in managing the content, I know I am getting better at delivering the content. Giving students a variety of models and examples is as important as giving them more text to read.

Has the spirit of community developed in the course through the various assigned activities? (All activities employed in a course should aid the student in developing the knowledge or skill stated in the objectives.)

Students who work in collaborative groups have a better feel of community than those who work by themselves. Creating a community begins with communication opportunities among the members, relying on each other to conquer a task, and negotiating the final product. Web 2 Tools and applications allow students to work closer together and to become more interactive with each other in the course of a class. Allowing students to use these tools to collaborate is a real blessing for developing a spirit of community.