Evaluating and improving educational material and tutoring aspects of Distance Learning Systems

This paper presents the approach followed for the evaluation of the educational system of the Informatics Course in the Hellenic Open University. Emphasis is placed on the evaluation method itself, which is general enough to be applied in similar evaluation cases, and on the discussion of the lessons learned during this evaluation. The presented method can be used for the improvement of the two major components of distance learning systems: the educational material and the role of the tutor. The paper discusses the conclusions drawn from the evaluation procedure and the actions taken towards improvement, aiming to serve as an example for similar attempts and share experiences in the field of distance education.