Evaluation Baron

So what type of areas or topics can web analytics assist you with? Here are some examples from the online learning field:

• Ensuring class members complete online assignments
• Discovering access or informational problems with a website
• Finding out if others are benefiting from the information on your website (with reference to open learning as applicable)
• Obtaining feedback from users regarding content, usability, and applicability - and being able to make adjustments accordingly
• Assessing the need for certain courses or topic areas
• Learning who the most frequent users are, why they participate, and how they can propel your courses to success

Web analytics, an up and coming technology that evaluates website activity, can be a huge benefit to all organizations, whether you have a small website or a large e-business. Here's how web analytics can improve your organization:

• Find out (among other vital data) who is on your website, for how long, and what they look at most
• Based on the above information, you can cater your website you specific groups of users and you can provide them the vital information that may mean the difference between having them do business with you and having them go elsewhere
• External evaluators (i.e., those who help you make sense out of the web information), can learn more about how customers and potential customers feel about your organization so they can make accurate and appropriate recommendations for improving your organization.

During the past few years, I've had an amazing experience conducting evaluations with an academic support group on the Brigham Young University (BYU) campus. The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) strives to “improve student learning in the context of the Aims of a BYU Education. The center accomplishes this goal by assisting BYU faculty, instructors, and administrators to -

• refine effective program- and course-level learning outcomes,
• design learning experiences to achieve desired outcomes,
• enhance the quality of learning experiences through technology integration,
• evaluate the effectiveness of learning experiences, and
• advance knowledge of effective learning and teaching.”

The evaluation field in general loves to debate and discuss the important issues surrounding evaluation. One longstanding topic (if there is anything more longstanding than the quantitative/qualitative debate :) is the difference between evaluation and research.

There are many opinions, and there probably is no right or wrong answer, but since this is my blog, I get to state my opinions and experiences to my heart's content. :)

As I understand it, both research and evaluation ask what is. Then research asks why, which indicates a theoretical basis, whereas evaluation asks what should be, which makes reference to the standards and criteria of evaluations.