Abstract:

Lay summary: The article examines the increasingly popular phenomena of web-based learning environments for university students, for both on-campus and distance-learning courses. The article argues that a crucial, and neglected, area is assessment of the effectiveness of these environments. The article proposes 3 models (institution, vendor, network) to assess effectiveness by analyzing students’ electronic footprints. It concludes that such assessment is essential to improve the online learning experience. Publication significance: Online learning is an increasingly integral part of both on-campus and distance tertiary education. In order to ensure that web-based learning environments are best serving the needs of students, faculty, and university management, an effective online-learning assessment method is necessary. The article explicates this issue; it argues for the achievability of such assessment and proposes three models for its implementation.