[W]e firmly believe that instructors should be the ultimate decision-makers in selecting the tools that will work for their courses and their learners. Thus, we saw an opportunity to develop a framework that would assist with the predictive evaluation of e-learning tools—a framework that could be used by non-tech experts and applied in a variety of learning contexts to help draw their attention to the cogent aspects of evaluating any e-learning tool. To address this need, we created the Rubric for E-Learning Tool Evaluation.

At our institution, Western University, the Rubric for E-Learning Tool Evaluation is currently being utilized in two ways. First, educational developers are using the rubric to review the tools and technologies profiled on the eLearning Toolkit, a university online resource intended to help instructors discover and meaningfully integrate technologies into their teaching. Second, we have shared our rubric with instructors and staff so that they can independently review tools of interest to them. These uses of the framework are key to our intended purpose for the rubric: to serve as a guide for instructors and staff in their assessment and selection of e-learning tools through a multidimensional evaluation of functional, technical, and pedagogical aspects.

Read the report by Lauren Anstey and Gavan Watson in full at Educause Review.