Distance Education Evaluation

With so many methods and tools that could be used for distance education it is important to know what will work and what won't work. Seeking feedback from students is vital in this situation, but also challenging. After a year of taking distance education classes online, I must say that I am impressed at the willingness of the instructors to seek feedback from students. The instructors here at USU, seem to be very interested in what students have to say about classes, and are willing to make changes and adjustments as student needs direct them to. I have felt that the online evaluations have been an effective tool for gathering feedback. Since these are anonymous, students should feel comfortable to speak their minds about courses. USU's methods of obtaining feedback should serve as a model for the rest of us as we design or offer distance education courses. Up to this point, it has been very beneficial to see some of the concepts that we have learn, in live situations.

Developing an effective distance education course takes time, testing, experimentation, and above all feedback from those who use the course content and features.