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A guide from UC Berkeley - Teaching Library Internet Workshops on how to skillfully evaluate web pages

Website on best educational software that has been evaluated by educators and parents alike and discusses software on geography, math, music, spelling, thinking skills and even writing.

Information on evaluating educational software

The following checklist might prove useful when planning evaluations for programs.

One of the most important benefits of conducting a program evaluation is using your findings to improve services, motivate staff, or even to change public policy. This tip sheet focuses on ways to use your results to improve services.

Has specific information about nonprofit program evaluation.

The power point presentation to 2007 article titled: A User Interface Design Rubric for Evaluating E-Learning Applications

Excellent detailed list of instructional software evaluation factors.

The Half an Hour blog is a blog site by Stephen Downes where he explores various topics in education. His take and theories on education and learning can be somewhat complex, but he does a great job of breaking them down in to smaller chunks for the reader. This is true in his post on connectivism and learning theory, where he explains how connections are formed in a network.

The author of this blogspot begins by defining exactly what is meant by a 'learning theory'. They then go on to discuss what learning is and how connectivism relates to learning. The learning theory of connectivism goes beyond simply looking up facts on Google. Learners are now connected (through nodes) and learning is not linear, but instead, "the ongoing development of a richer and richer neural tapestry." This article is an interesting look at learning theory and connectivism.

This blog deals with the shift in classrooms from memorizing to using resources. It discusses what connectivism is and how learning is formed through it. It also shows how it is different from other learning theories,

This study evaluated the CoPs in State Farm Insurance to study various variables and their impact on the effectivenss of CoPs. SOme of the varialbes include level of trust among members, connectedness, member committment, community leadership strength, perceived impact on job performance, and perceived community effetiveness.

This is a dynamic article focused on researching the effectiveness of using a rhizomatic structure within the PLN for students using a variety of social media. Researchers evaluate a variety of social media as well as their impact on both the students and instructors. Outcomes include implications of impact on faculty workload, student perceptions of learning enhancement and level of peer engagment.

This is an excellent resource for technology integration at a variety of grade levels. There are 100's of videos of classroom lessons and ideas for you to explore and it is up-to-date, launched in February 2011. This tool was designed to help principals and teachers evaluate the levels of technology integration into the classroom.

This article examines the nature of learning communities constructed among a diverse group of adult learners in an online graduate-level 16 week instructional design course. Researchers analyzed course artifacts, survey responses, online profiles and project evaluations to explore communities formed in an online setting that involves 21 international participants. Data was collected through observing recorded audio webcasts and chat discussions, and analysis of student profiles, artifacts, survey responses, and course evaluations. The authors found evidence of community building without significant differences associated with race, culture, or gender. Instead, evidence for community building was more dependent on active participation, forming of shared identify, and the establishment of social network. The course design allowed individuals to work and communicate collaboratively. The authors admit that the study is narrow in scope with a small number of participants, making it unreliable for wider contexts.

List of things to consider if you plan to use tech tools with your students.

8th grade students research current events and share their responses via their class wiki. This broadens their audience to their peers, thus impacting their own evaluation of their work and their peers' work.

Discussing important steps in implementing social media in the classroom such as assess the learning environment, research platforms, create a policy, educate community and evaluate the progress. Social media was linked to reviving stale classrooms.

This article is the best description I have seen on designing a way to evaluate instructional software. It breaks it down clearly and gives several resources to help guide you on your way to making a decision.

Check list for evaluating instructional software