How do you evaluate digital learning with integrity?

1 Define your purpose

Before you start designing or implementing any digital learning evaluation, you need to have a clear and specific purpose. What are you trying to achieve with your digital learning program? Who are your target audience and stakeholders? What are the expected outcomes and impacts of your digital learning program? How will you use the evaluation results to improve your digital learning program or inform your decisions? By defining your purpose, you can align your evaluation questions, methods, and criteria with your digital learning goals and context.

2 Choose your methods

There are many methods and tools available for evaluating digital learning, depending on your purpose, scope, and resources. Some of the common methods include surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, analytics, assessments, portfolios, and feedback. You can use quantitative or qualitative methods, or a combination of both, to collect and analyze data from different sources and perspectives. You can also use formative or summative methods, or a mix of both, to monitor and measure the progress and outcomes of your digital learning program. You should choose the methods that best suit your evaluation purpose, questions, and criteria, as well as the characteristics and preferences of your learners and stakeholders.

3 Ensure validity and reliability

Validity and reliability are two essential aspects of evaluation quality that affect the credibility and usefulness of your evaluation results. Validity is the extent to which your evaluation methods and tools measure what they are intended to measure, while reliability is the extent to which your evaluation methods and tools produce consistent and accurate results. To ensure validity and reliability, you should follow some best practices such as aligning your evaluation methods with your purpose, questions, and criteria; using multiple sources of data collection and analysis; triangulating and cross-checking data and findings from different sources; piloting and testing evaluation methods before using them; applying appropriate statistical or qualitative techniques to analyze data; and reporting and interpreting results with caution and transparency.

4 Respect ethics and privacy

Ethics and privacy are two essential principles that must be respected when conducting and reporting any evaluation, especially in digital learning contexts where data collection and analysis can involve sensitive and personal information. To do this, you should obtain informed consent from your learners and stakeholders before collecting and using their data. Additionally, you should protect the confidentiality and anonymity of your learners by using encryption, pseudonyms, or aggregation. Furthermore, it is important to avoid any harm or discomfort to your learners by minimizing risks, biases, or conflicts of interest. Lastly, you must adhere to the relevant laws, regulations, and policies regarding data protection and security as well as acknowledge and cite the sources and contributions of your learners and stakeholders.

5 Communicate your results

The final step of evaluating digital learning with integrity is to communicate your results to your learners, stakeholders, and other interested parties. Not only should you share your findings and recommendations, but also engage your audience in a dialogue and feedback process. To do this effectively, you must consider the purpose and audience of your communication, as well as the format, medium, content, tone, timing, frequency, feedback, and follow-up. Evaluating digital learning with integrity is not a one-time event; it requires planning, adaptation, and reflection throughout the process. By following these principles and methods, you can enhance the quality and impact of your digital learning programs and contribute to the advancement of digital learning in your field.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?