Week 2: What is evaluation and why evaluate?

 Image: Snowy is about to dive by Daveynin

What is on this week?
We are starting to look at evaluation more closely to find out what exactly it is and why you should do it. So check out the material for the topic - Why evaluate? There are several activities, and the ones I want to highlight are the 20 minute presentation about the importance of evaluation and also the mock evaluation exercise I would like you to do - Evaluate This. There is a case study to look at and material to evaluate. So partners need to buddy up with another set of partners to do this exercise. There are also sample evaluation plans and reports from previous students to look at - Exemplars. The reflection exercise will guide you with some of the information you can post on your blog. This topic runs over two weeks so take a deep breath and jump in.


What happened last week?
The first week has flown by, and there are now15 of you in the course. Don't forget to find yourself a partner to work with in the course; some people have taken the plunge. You might like to break in your "evaluation teeth" with your partner by checking out the tasters, and discussing the type of evaluation which would fit. As you can see by the posts rolling in to this blog, six people have got their blogs sorted. It is a good idea to get your blog up and running as soon as you can because history has shown that the longer you leave it, the bigger the thorn it becomes in your side.

What did the punters say?
Kevin's sense of humour is shining through on his first post which has a great pic of him - but is it? Kevin also tells us, interspersed with great pics, what he has started looking at in the course. Katie has also given us a peep into her world, and already has a great idea for an evaluation project. Dana has posted a reflection about the Elluminate web conference, and his observations. You may like to listen to the recording of the session. There were a few technical hitches but we got there, and  people introduced themselves, and I talked through the assessment requirements and people got to tell us about their area of work. Rachel gives us an overview of her past experiences with evaluation on her blog post. A great start folks!

How to manage all the blogs
Although the course participants' blogs are  feeding into the course blog, you might also like to subscribe to each blog using Google Reader. This is a good way to manage the blogs because you can just quickly read the new posts. Otherwise just keep one eye on the course blog, and read each new post as it rolls in. It would be great to see you giving each other some feedback - make sure you have Comments enabled  on your blog so your class mates can do this.