In collaboration with my colleague, Dr. Gavan Watson, we developed a Rubric for eLearning Tool Evaluation to support multi-dimensional evaluation of functional, technical, and social aspects of eLearning resources and tools. The rubric has been applied in two key contexts:
- The rubric has been applied to the evaluation of tools featured on Western’s eLearning Toolkit in an effort to vet various tools for users.
- The rubric has been used in consultations with instructors to aid in fostering comprehensive and critical conversations with regards to eLearning tools and their applications to teaching and learning
Evidence
- Rubric for eLearning Tool Evaluation. The rubric, by Lauren Anstey & Gavan Watson, copyright 2016 Teaching Support Centre, 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/
- Various pages of the eLearning Toolkit resource demonstrate the rubric’s application to vetting and communicating information about eLearning tools to the Western community
ED Philosophy Themes
Thoughtful Technology: Due to the way the rubric incorporates practice, pedagogy, and technological considerations, the rubric offers a framework for thoughtful integration of technology in the classroom. It’s not just about the tool and it’s features – it’s about how the tool will work for instructors and students in the classroom environment to achieve particular learning outcomes.
Tinkering: Development of the rubric was a collaborative effort that drew upon the collective knowledge of team members in the Teaching Support Centre and eLearning Team in ITS. I led an approach to rubric development that was iterative, allowing us to frame rubric elements around our practice wisdom, draw on the literature, and hone in on the criteria we valued.
Fissures of Opportunity: The project was inspired by identifying how we might improve our documentation and faculty support activities. It was clear that we regularly spoke to key considerations for evaluating eLearning tools yet did not yet have an articulated framework of evaluative elements. Developing the rubric has contributed to the improvement of one-on-one consults as well as support documentation, such as Western’s eLearning Toolkit.
Literature Informed: The rubric incorporated practice wisdom with literature as drawn from various areas of pedagogical and technological considerations for eLearning and technology use.