Evaluation Strategy for Online Courses

Abstract

Any program that includes online learning, or indeed any type of training, benefits from a strong evaluation strategy. Collecting evaluation metrics enables an organization to measure against and report on Kirkpatrick’s four levels of evaluation (participant reaction, learning gain, transfer of knowledge back to the job, and achievement of business results) (Kirkpatrick, 1994), as well as determine the return on investment (ROI) for the program. Any organization should be able to justify the existence of its training program, not only to ensure that the quality of the training is acceptable and maintained, but also to assure stakeholders that the money spent on such a program is defensible. This can mean the difference between having funds for the program increased or losing those needed resources.