A three-layered cyclic model of e-learning development and evaluation

Evaluation is often depicted as being in a cyclic relationship, together with the planning, development, and implementation aspects of e-learning in higher education. This article supports this view and elaborates the multiple roles evaluation can have. We present a three-layered cyclic model developed during an e-learning support project: e3Learning (e3L). Formative evaluation can refine e-learning planning and development before implementation; however, the emphasis of this article is on the contributions of summative evaluation. Experiences during the e3L project reveal two key roles of evaluation from summative data: (a) Evaluation assists teachers in improving their e-learning strategies in further rounds of planning and development; and (b) evaluation can also provide evidence through meta-analyses across projects, which can feed into overall e-learning planning, development and evaluation strategies.