Evaluation Check List

Checklist for Evaluating School Arabia Site Item

Yes No

Access Are visitors able to access the course without a username or password and Can visitors reviewing demo course? Does the course provide a list of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that learners reported having encountered problems in accessing and using the course Website? Is the course Website designed to be accessible by a wider user population?

Does the course provide access to other source of information related to the course content (videos, audio materials….?

Cost Is the course Website hosted on a commercial system (with monthly fee)?

Teaching and Learning Issues Does the course provide the Course Goals? Does the course provide the Course Objectives? Are clear learning outcomes specified in the course? Are the course objectives measurable and achievable? Does the course inform learners what they must do to achieve the objectives? Are course assignments, reports and discussions flexible enough to accommodate students' own learning goals? Do the course goals and objectives include the skills covered in similar courses taught in other institutions? Does the course review the prerequisite skills necessary for learning the skills of the course? Does the course exploit the flexibility of the hypertext/hypermedia (e.g., hyperlinks) environment of the Web? Is the course content appropriately matched to the method of delivery? Does the course provide clear directions of what learners should do at every stage of the course? Does the course provide a sense of continuity for the learners (i.e., each unit of the lesson builds on the previous unit where appropriate)? Are the course materials organized in a manner appropriate to the apparent philosophical approach? Is there a clear and apparent sequence or structure to the information?

Not applicable

Is the material grouped ("chunked") effectively? Does the course provide summaries of key points of the instruction? Given the course goals, is the content complete? Does dynamic contents of the course are updated regularly? Does the course require students to do any offline activities? Does a course’s description in the syllabus communicate the importance and relevance of its content? Does the course content use any textual and multimedia materials from outside sources? Does the course deal with Well-structured type of content? Does the course allow for the instructor to serve as facilitator? Does the course offer facilitation tools (e.g. e-mail, Online discussion forum, Audio conference)? Is the course designed to support students to become independent distance learners? Does the course allow students to have some control over the material to be learned? Does the course have online presentation(s)? Does the course have virtual exhibits? Does the course provide online demonstrations sessions? Do students receive guidance on writing and online behavior on the discussion forums?

Interactivity and User Friendliness Are the web materials available in multiple formats? Does the course use different interface structure? Are the web documents available for browsing, printing and saving in various formats? Is the site attractive and appealing to the eye? Are background colors of screen appropriate to the foreground colors of the screen? Does the course use a consistent layout? Does the course use a standard font type? Do the pages on the course website load quickly? Does the course assign student pre-listening or other instructional activities while the files are downloading? Are the content uses any of the scannable text guidelines (sub-heading, bulleted lists, highlighting…)? Is the content credible? Does the course use short meaningful text? Does the course follow (one-idea per paragraph) rule? Is the writing style appropriate for the reading level of target audience?

Is the course content presented ?in standard writing convention

Grammar Punctuation Spelling Capitalizing Is the course use any of the Animation following ways to gain learner Motion ?attention Graphics Colors Sounds ?Are the content-relevant graphics clear ?Is the font style, color and size appropriate for learners Does the course give credit to individuals involved in ?designing and developing the course ?Does the course use meaningful headings ?Dose the course cater for different learning styles ?Can low vision users resize the course screen Can users who cannot use mouse navigate the e-learning ?materials using the keyboard instead Dose the course use acronyms instead of using the full name ?each time Does the course provide structural aids (i.e., unit, modules, ?lesson, activities, etc.) to guide learner’s navigation Does the course provide site map (map of the course parts & ?(links Are all links clearly labeled, and do they serve an easily identified purpose, so that learners have enough information to ?know whether they should click a link ?Do the site internal & external links distract the learner ?(Dose the course provide clear icons (standardized icons Does the course use consistent color for both unvisited and ?visited links Is the course consistent with the use of terminology ?throughout ?Are there any links to bags that are incomplete sites Are learners informed when they use outside links lead to ?different Websites ?Dose the site include a search feature Does the course provide a support mechanism to indicate the ?progress made Does the course include features that automatically return a student to the point where he/she last left off during the ?previous session ?Are menus deep Does every page of the course have links back to the site's main ?page Do all the inside & outside links in the course link to the ?correct locations ?Does the course have any inactive links

Can users easily know where they are and navigate the .site without guessing

Organizational Issues Does the designer conduct a need analysis for the e-

learning course? Dose the designer provide faculty and staff directories on-line? Dose the designer provide most up-to-date information about the course? Can students register on-line? Dose the designer provide online procedures for paying? Dose the designer provide transcripts and grade information on-line? Dose the designer provide grade information on-line? Dose the designer has its policies and guidelines for all students? Dose the designer provide a list of instructional and support staff to assist online students? Can students contact instructional staff using communication methods such as e-mail and phone? Dose the designer provide students handbook? Are students expected to complete survey about general information? Dose the designer provide detailed information of the course for remote learners? Dose the course provide a self-test to check students' understanding of orientation? Dose the designer provide academic advising for new students? Are learners provided with online counseling? Dose the course provide tutorial services? Dose the designer provide special services for students with disabilities?

Novelty Does the course have orientation programs that provide technical training to students before starting the course? Is the course Website hosted on course provider's own system? Is the course Website hosted on a commercial system (with monthly fee) Does the course provide the Bandwidth capacity following information about its Limitations of its institution's networks to learners? networks Is there a “buddy system” established in the course so that learners will have at least one person who they can call to do some preliminary troubleshooting or just ask advice?

What happens to a pre-scheduled exam or chat when the server is down?

Exam or chat is rescheduled Exam or chat is postponed until the server is up and running Exam is done offline Not sure Does the course provide alternative off-line learning activities if the course server goes down? Does the course provide e-mail accounts to students? Does the course offer any training sessions or direct students to appropriate resources so that they can get the necessary skills to fully participate in the various activities of the course? Are the minimum capabilities (e.g., browser, software compatibility, data transfer speeds) for an adequate Internet service provider specified in the course? Has the institution created any reusable and shareable learning objects (LOs)? Are there time limits for how long learners can be logged on to the course? Does the course provide for desktop videoconferencing or any other type of real-time interaction? Does the course provide links to resources where learners can learn more about required hardware? Does the course provide any recommendations on best place(s) to buy various hardware components required for the course? Does the course inform students about the video clips or streaming media (if any) used in the course may not run effectively with a slow modem? Does the course allow learners to choose any of the following connection speeds for streaming media used in the course? • 28.8 K • 56K • T1 Are any browser "plug-ins" needed to use the pages? Does the course provide links to resources where learners can learn more about required software? Does the course provide any recommendations on best place(s) to buy the required software for the course? Does the course provide links to resources where all software can be downloaded or purchased?

Check if the course provides any of the following interaction or recommendation mechanisms for students:

Is the course developed using any of the following software?

Chat E-mail MUD (Multi-User Dungeon or Dimension) MOO (Mud, Object Oriented) Discussion Forum Newsgroup Whiteboard LMS LCMS Authoring software