presentation - Sandra Elias - evaluation of online discussion in a midwifery course

The third presentation by one of the Evaluation of eLearning in Best Practice alumni was by Sandra Elias from Vancouver. Sandra Elias conducted a summative evaluation of online discussion used for assessment in a nutrition course in a midwifery degree. The presentation eventually happened, but without any of the class present. This was due to a mix up in the difference in time zones - Canada versus NZ. Anyway we have Sandra's presentation with audio for you to listen to at your leisure.

Summative evaluation of online discussion in a midwifery course

You will find that Sandra's project is different again to the other projects we have had presented; she looked at the perceptions of students about assessment using an online discussion board. Whereas Bonnie and Suzy evaluated a DVD resource used in an online course, and Selena, Trish and Lois investigated the impact of a Learning Management System and the ways in which academic staff transferred their learning from one system to another. So we have two evaluations which were looking at effectiveness (summative) and one impact evaluation.

Holiday break

There is a holiday break 21 April until 2 May. This means that you will have some catch up time. On 5 May, the course enters Week Eight, when you need to continue preparing your evaluation plan.

It would be good to see a draft outline up on your blog so others can give you feedback. You also need to negotiate your plan with Bronwyn; a good chance to make sure you are on the right path.

Weeks seven and eight: Negotiate and write an evaluation plan

First up, I hope some of you can make the Elluminate presentation by Sandra Elias - live from Vancouver - Thursday 17 April 5.30 - 6.30 pm (http://tinyurl.com/2l6r7w). The presentation is about an evaluation of how online discussion was used in a midwifery nutrition course.

The schedule this week
This week if you are following the course schedule closely, you will need to firm up your ideas for your evaluation project. Remember to look at Assessment and Marking Schedule for the pointers on this part of the assessment.

Things to do:
Decide on two eLearning guidelines against which you will evaluate - three is maximum.

• Establish the paradigm and model for your evaluation.
• Look at this example of an evaluation plan - Usability evaluation
• Look at the evaluation tools on the companion web site for the book by Reeves, Thomas, C. and John G. Hedberg (2003), Interactive Learning Systems Evaluation, Englewood Cliffs: Educational Technology Publications.
  • You can download a Microsoft Word Rich Text Format (rtf) version of an Evaluation Plan Template.
  • Remember this can be modified to suit your situation.
• Explore the Evaluation Cookbook to decide on some sampling methods for your project.
• Prepare some draft ideas and post them on your blog.
• Contact your lecturer to negotiate your plan.
• Write up your plan more fully using the suggested section listed in the Assessment and Marking Schedule

Note: a lot of the information in your plan can also be used in your final report about the project.

Presentation - Selena Chan - Impact evaluation project

There is another web conferencing presentation coming up this week. Selena Chan will be speaking about her impact evaluation project conducted when she was a student in the course a couple of years ago. A summary has been sent on email.

Title: E-Bees Study of tutorial staff preparedness for using a new learning management system. Selena Chan (with Lois Robertson and Trish Stewart).

Date and Time: Thursday 10 April 7.30-8.30 - meeting link - http://tinyurl.com/ywl8p8

Remember you will need a headset or stand-alone microphone but can access the presentation and listen and use chat only. The session will be recorded if you are unable to make it.

Results of the poll - hours per week spent on the course

The poll recently carried out on the course blog was set up to find out how many hours per week participants in the course were spending studying in the course. There were nine (n=9) out of a possible 15 particpants who responded, a 60% response rate. The results to the question follow. For some reason, parts of the grid in the table have been lost. The table was organised in Word, and pasted into PaintShop Pro, then saved as a jpeg.

This is one way you can gather descriptive data and report on it as part of a formative evaluation during the running of a course.

Question - how many hours per week are you spending on average on the course?

I wonder if people who responded have any comments to make about the number of hours they are spending in study.

• Is the amount of time spent adequate and/or acceptable to you? Please explain.
  
• Is the time you are spending sufficient to help you understand the topics and keep up? Please expand.
  

Presentation of three implementation eLearning Guidelines (ELG) projects

Dear all
You are invited to attend a presentation via computer web conferencing on Friday 11 April at 2-3.30 pm - about three implementation eLearning Guidelines (ELG) projects.

These projects are part of larger a tertiary wide project led by Massey University called ELG in which Otago Polytechnic and MIT and 16 other organisations are participating. The eLearning Guidelines newsletter has more information about the progress of the project.

The following people will be presenting their implementation projects which are part of the sector-wide ELG project. Bronwyn Hegarty, Otago Polytechnic, Oriel Kelly, Manukau Institute of Technogy (MIT) and Julie Mackey, University of Canterbury. More detail about the projects can be found on the project website.

bonnie and suzy evaluation best practice presentation

Here is the recording of the Elluminate session - presentation and discussion, which ran last night with Suzy Poppe and Bonnie Schroyen from NorthTec. It was very interesting with eight people from the class attending and everyone asked great questions.

Evaluating the effectiveness of a DVD in the flexible mode of delivery in nursing education. Here is the link: Bonnie and Suzy DVD in nursing evaluation presentation.

Apologies the link was not working previously. I will write my reflections on my blog, and post the presentation and audio separately in the next few days.

Bronwyn