EVALUATING eLEARNING: A FRONT- END, PROCESS AND POST HOC APPROACH.

This paper examines eLearning from three related perspectives, two of which address the planning and administration of online courses. The second part of this paper examines the assessment and evaluation of learning outcomes in an eLearning environment. The initial phase thoroughly explores current and recommended front-end approaches to improving online instruction. It looks at the organizational alms and the vision within which eLearning can be applied. The second phase examines the planning, implementation and administration of online courses. It investigates characteristics of effective eLearning environments that address physical, technical, pedagogical, professional and environmental elements. The third and final phase explores several reliable and valid approaches to online measurement and testing methods that are designed to eliminate such problems as plagiarism, technical problems associated with access, matching learners' and instructors' technical skill levels, learner isolation, and the impersonality of computerized assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]