Continuous evaluation of web-based cooperative learning: the conception and development of an evaluation toolkit

Traditional evaluation approaches are not sufficient to tackle the evaluation of web-based cooperative learning. Evaluation in this area is difficult because many factors influence the cooperative learning process, which are always changing. This makes it necessary to make adjustments to the cooperative tools and learning methods to fit particular settings and emerging requirements. Therefore, there is a need to develop methods and tools for the formative evaluation of cooperative e-learning, which support tutors and learners to monitor and optimise their learning process at runtime. We propose the concept of continuous evaluation, which combines existing evaluation approaches in the construction of an evaluation toolkit consisting of guidelines, methods and software tools for the monitoring, analysis and optimisation of cooperative learning. The concept of continuous evaluation is interesting to those who wish to make systematic evaluations of CSCL systems. It describes which evaluation activities are appropriate when planning and designing CSCL, during early field studies, and throughout the ongoing maintenance of established courses. The aim of continuous evaluation is to build up a suite of evaluation methods and tools to be used by researchers, tutors and learners, which are tailored to a specific setting and are iteratively improved over time.