Title: Evaluating eLearning Tools

Authors: kehoej (Author)
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Licence terms: Adapted from the original: Rubric for eLearning Tool Evaluation by Lauren M. Anstey & Gavan P.L. Watson, copyright 2018 Centre for Teaching and Learning, Western University is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

eLearning Tool Information

This fillable, guided, document is an adaptation of the original rubric developed by Lauren Anstey and Gavan Watson, located at: https://teaching.uwo.ca/pdf/elearning/Rubric-for-eLearning-Tool-Evaluation.pdf

It is designed to help anyone in their comprehensive evaluation of use of eLearninig tools in higher education.  eLearning tools are defined as any digital technology, mediated through the use of a computing device, deliberately selected to support student learning. The rubric supports a multi-dimensional evaluation of functional, technical, and pedagogical aspects of eLearning Tools.

Q: Name of Tool and URL:

Functionality

Q: SCALE

- Works Well: The tool can be scaled to accommodate any size class with the flexibility to create smaller sub-groups or communities of practice
- Minor Concerns: The tool can scaled to accommodate any size class but lacks flexibility to create smaller sub-groups or communities of practice
- Serious Concerns: The tool is restrictive to a limited number of users and cannot be scaled

Q: EASE OF USE

- Works Well: The tool has a user-friendly interface and it is easy for instructors and students to become skillful with in a personalized and intuitive manner.
- Minor Concerns: The tool has an interface that may be confusing to either instructor or learner; there is limited opportunity for personalization.
- Serious Concerns: The interface is not user-friendly for either the instructor or learner; it is cumbersome, unintuitive, rigid, and inflexible.

Q: TECH SUPPORT / HELP AVAILABLE

- Works Well: Campus-based technical support and /or help documentation is readily available and aids users in troubleshooting tasks or solving problems experienced; or, the tool provider offers a robust support platform
- Minor Concerns: Technical support and help documentation is available but limited, incomplete, or not user-friendly
- Serious Concerns: Technological support and help documentation is not available

Q: HYPERMEDIALITY

- Works Well: The tool allows users to communicate through different channels (audio, visual, textual) and allows for non-sequential, flexible/adaptive engagement with material
- Minor Concerns: The tool allows users to communicate through different channels (audio, visual, textual) but is limited in its ability to provide non-sequential, flexible/adaptive engagement with material
- Serious Concerns: The tool is restrictive in terms of the communication channels employed (audio, visual, textual) and presents information sequentially in a rigid, inflexible format

Accessibility

Q: ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS

- Works Well: The tool meets accessibility guidelines (e.g. local accessibility legislation and/or W3C WCAG 2.0 standards)
- Minor Concerns: The tool has some limited capacity to meet accessibility guidelines
- Serious Concerns: The tool fails to meet accessibility guidelines or no information of compliance has been made available for the tool

Q: USER-FOCUSED PARTICIPATION

- Works Well: The tool is designed to address the needs of diverse users, their various literacies, and capabilities, thereby widening opportunities for participation in learning
- Minor Concerns: The tool has some limited capacity to address the needs of diverse users, their various literacies, and capabilities
- Serious Concerns: The tool is restrictive in meeting the diversity of needs reflective in the student body. The tool likely restricts some learners from fully participating.

Q: REQUIRED EQUIPMENT

- Works Well: Proper use of the tool does not require equipment beyond what is typically available to instructors and students (computer with built-in speakers and microphone, internet connection, etc.)
- Minor Concerns: Proper use of the tool requires specialized equipment (e.g. unique device) that likely requires purchase at a low cost
- Serious Concerns: Proper use of the tool requires specialized equipment requiring moderate to significant financial investment

Q: COST OF USE

- Works Well: All aspects of the tool can be used free of charge.
- Minor Concerns: Limited aspects of the tool can be used for free with other elements requiring payment of a fee, membership, or subscription.
- Serious Concerns: Use of the tool requires a fee, membership, or subscription
Use of the tool requires a purchase that is likely to pose a financial burden on students (exceeding $50 for a single half term course)

Technical

Q: INTEGRATION/EMBEDDING WITHIN A LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (LMS)

- Works Well: The tool can be embedded (as an object via HTML code) or fully integrated (e.g. LTI-compliant tools) into an LMS while maintaining full functionality of the tool.
- Minor Concerns: The tool can be embedded within an LMS, perhaps with with limited functionality, but can not be fully integrated.
- Serious Concerns: The tool can only be accessed in an LMS through a hyperlink or static representations of the tool (e.g file export), rather than a functional version of the tool itself

Q: DESKTOP / LAPTOP OPERATING SYSTEMS

- Works Well: Users can effectively utilize the tool with any standard, up-to-date operating system.
- Minor Concerns: Users may encounter limited or altered functionality depending on the up-to-date operating system being used
- Serious Concerns: Users are limited to using the tool with one specific, up-to-date operating system.

Q: BROWSER

- Works Well: Users can effectively utilize the tool with any standard, up-to-date browser
- Minor Concerns: Users may encounter limited or altered functionality depending on the up-to-date browser being used
- Serious Concerns: Users are limited to using the tool through one specific browser

Q: ADDITIONAL DOWNLOADS

- Works Well: Users do not need to download additional software or browser extensions.
- Minor Concerns: The tool uses a browser extension or software that requires a download and / or user permission to run.
- Serious Concerns: The tool requires a past or version of a browser extension or software.

Mobile Design

Q: ACCESS

- Works Well: The tool can be accessed, either through the download of an app or via a mobile browser, regardless of the mobile operating system and device. Design of the mobile tool fully takes into consideration the constraints of a smaller-sized screen.
- Minor Concerns: The tool offers an app, but only for a limited set of mobile operating systems. Tool is not accessible through a mobile browser. Design of the mobile tool constrained by the limitations of the mobile device.
- Serious Concerns: Access to the tool is limited or absent on a mobile device.

Q: FUNCTIONALITY

- Works Well: There is little to no functional difference between the mobile and the desktop version, regardless of the device used to access it. No difference in functionality between apps designed for different mobile operating systems.
- Minor Concerns: Core features of the main tool are functional on the mobile app but advanced features are limited. Some difference in functionality between apps designed for different mobile operating systems, but has limited impact on learners’ use of the tool.
- Serious Concerns: The mobile app functions poorly such that core features are not reliable or non-existent. Significant difference in functionality depending on the mobile device’s operating system used to access the tool.

Q: OFFLINE ACCESS

- Works Well: Offers an offline mode: Core features of the tool can be accessed and utilized even when offline, maintaining functionality and content.
- Minor Concerns: Offers a kind of offline mode, where the tool can be used offline but core functionality and content are affected.
- Serious Concerns: The mobile platform cannot be used in any capacity offline.

Privacy, Data Protection and Rights

Q: SIGN-UP / SIGN-IN

- Works Well: Use of the tool does not require the creation of an external account or additional login, such that no personal user information is collected and shared.
- Minor Concerns: Either instructors are the only users required to provide personal information to set up an account; or the tool has been vetted through appropriate channels to ensure strict adherence to local, institutional, or personal policies/standards for protecting the collection and use of student personal data by a third party group.
- Serious Concerns: All users (instructors and learners) must provide personal information to a third party in creating an account and there is some question or concern of the adherence to local, institutional, or personal policies/standards for protecting the collection and use of such data by the third party group.

Q: DATA PRIVACY AND OWNERSHIP

- Works Well: Users maintain ownership and copyright of their intellectual property/data; the user can keep data private and decide if / how data is to be shared
- Minor Concerns: Users maintain ownership and copyright of their intellectual property/data; data is shared publically and cannot be made private
- Serious Concerns: Users forfeit ownership and copyright of data; data is shared publically and cannot be made private, or no details provided.

Q: ARCHIVING, SAVING AND EXPORTING DATA

- Works Well: Users can archive, save, or import and export content or activity data in a variety of formats
- Minor Concerns: There are limitations to archiving, saving, or importing/exporting content or activity data
- Serious Concerns: Content and activity data cannot be archived, saved, or imported exported

Social Presence

Q: COLLABORATION

- Works Well: The tool has the capacity to support a community of learning through both asynchronous and synchronous opportunities for communication, interactivity, and transfer of meaning between users
- Minor Concerns: The tool has the capacity to support a community of learning through asynchronous but not synchronous opportunities for communication, interactivity, and transfer of meaning between users
- Serious Concerns: Communication, interactivity, and transfer of meaning between users is not supported or significantly limited

Q: USER ACCOUNTABILITY

- Works Well: Instructors can control learner anonymity; the tool provides technical solutions for holding learners accountable for their actions
- Minor Concerns: Instructors cannot control learner anonymity but the tool provides some solution for holding learners accountable for their actions
- Serious Concerns: Instructors cannot control learner anonymity and there is no technical solution for holding users accountable to their actions

Q: DIFFUSION

- Works Well: The tool is widely known and popular, it’s likely that most learners are familiar with the tool and have basic technical competence with it
- Minor Concerns: Learners’ familiarity with the tool is likely mixed, some will lack basic technical competence with its functions
- Serious Concerns: The tool is not well known/foreign, it is likely that learners are not familiar with the tool and lack basic technical competence with its functions

Teaching Presence

Q: FACILITATION

- Works Well: The tool has easy-to-use features that would significantly improve an instructor’s ability to be present with learners via active management, monitoring, engagement, and feedback
- Minor Concerns: The tool has limited functionality to effectively support an instructor’s ability to be present with learners via active management, monitoring, engagement, and feedback
- Serious Concerns: The tool has not been designed to support an instructor’s an instructor’s ability to be present with learners via active management, monitoring, engagement, and feedback

Q: CUSTOMIZATION

- Works Well: Tool is adaptable to its environment: easily customized to suit the classroom context and targeted learning outcomes
- Minor Concerns: Limited aspects of the tool can be customized to suit the classroom context and learning outcomes
- Serious Concerns: The tool cannot be customized

Q: LEARNING ANALYTICS

- Works Well: Instructor can monitor learners’ performance on a variety of responsive measures. These measures can be accessed through a user-friendly dashboard
- Minor Concerns: Instructor can monitor learners’ performance on limited measures; or data is not presented in a format that is easily interpreted
- Serious Concerns: The tool does not support the collection of learning analytics

Cognitive Presence

Q: ENHANCEMENT OF COGNITIVE TASKS

- Works Well: The tool enhances engagement in targeted cognitive task(s) that were once overly complex or inconceivable through other means
- Minor Concerns: The tool enables functional improvement to engagement in the targeted cognitive task(s)
- Serious Concerns: The tool acts as a direct tool substitute with no functional change to engagement in the targeted cognitive task(s)

Q: HIGHER ORDER THINKING

- Works Well:Use of the tool easily facilitates learners to exercise higher order thinking skills (given consideration to design, facilitation, and direction from instructor)
- Minor Concerns: The tool may engage learners in higher order thinking skills (given significant consideration to design, facilitation, and direction from instructor)
- Serious Concerns: The tool likely does not engage learners in higher order thinking skills (despite significant consideration to design, facilitation, and direction from instructor)

Q: METACOGNITIVE ENGAGEMENT

- Works Well: Through the tool, learners can regularly receive formative feedback on learning (i.e. they can track their performance, monitor their improvement, test their knowledge)
- Minor Concerns: Opportunities for receiving formative feedback on learning are available, but infrequent or limited (i.e. poor opportunities for tracking performance, monitoring improvement, testing knowledge on a regular basis)
- Serious Concerns: There are no opportunities for formative feedback on learning (i.e. lacking opportunities for tracking performance, monitoring improvement, testing knowledge on a regular basis)

eLearning Tool Evaluation: Document Export Page

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