Technological innovations have spurred exponential use of electronic resources for learners of all ages over the last decade. These global developments also require continual advancement of electronic e-learning evaluation. Evaluation is the process of clarifying what should be and comparing that to what is, to facilitate evaluative decisions about success and ways to achieve it. This article outlines a process for doing evaluations of e-learning and identifies common critical-evaluation elements. An extended case vignette of an e-learning evaluation and references to others and related literature illustrate the use of these critical elements and associated emerging results.
Technological innovations play an increasingly prominent role in the growth of leading industrial economies. As a result, governments are shifting their attention from science and technology policy to a focus on research and innovation policy. Models of the innovation process have evolved over time and are now able to take into account the many factors outside the firm that affect the ability to innovate and the rewards from it. Innovation is a socioeconomic process that leads to the observed exponential growth in value or performance of high priority capabilities. The divergence of innovative capacity in different societies can be understood in terms of social capital and public policy. National systems of innovation reflect these differences.
