Abstract
Evaluation refers to a review of the level to which particular objectives have been achieved. It can also be looked at as the operation of gathering and making available of data to make it possible for administrators to go about their duties in more smart ways.
My proposal aims at assessing the education technology referred to as Education and Career Opportunities System, which is a cyberspace-founded course and is backed by the Eastern Illinois Education for Employment System.
Education and Career Opportunities System, commonly referred to as ECOS is an education technology on the internet written by Embark. Embark was later joined by Princeton Review and their set-up is now used by many students and renowned universities world over. Princeton Review offers services mainly in college admissions.
Issues
There are quite a number of issues that must be put into consideration when putting into operation any education technology. First, before employing such a technology, there has to be a requirement for it and attention ought to be shown. Many a times, educationalists have identified a requirement for a given scheme or another but more often than not put off such courses due to inadequate managerial interest.
Second, a consideration needs to be put into the advancement of a feasible arrangement for the scheme in question. Interested experts need to show the necessity for the scheme by coming up with a well-ordered arrangement which the authorities will mull over. The scheme ought to address the anticipations of all the stakeholders.
A budget is the third key issue that needs to be considered when bringing up a learning technology. For any technology to succeed, sufficient time must be allocated to draw a practical financial plan for it.
Another very essential issue is assessment of the chosen program. The program needs to be assessed every so often in a bid to ensure it is operational. With technology advancing rapidly, it is appropriate to employ formative and summative techniques.
The final issue to be looked at is the result of the evaluation exercise. The one(s) involved in the evaluation have to come to a decision as to whether or not the anticipations of those involved were met.
Evaluation proposal
Description of Education and Career Opportunities System
The Education and Career Opportunities System, commonly referred to as ECOS, is a program based on the worldwide web that addresses scores of concerns of students in high school. It is at present used by Cumberland Unit District.
It is therefore imperative to study the scheme from various points of view in order to understand it fully and then give the necessary recommendations. An unbiased depiction of a program brings to the fore the constructive and the unconstructive facets of that program.
To start with, there are several benefits to using this program. For instance it is an exceptional resource for low-grade and high-grade learners as it offers study openings in various fields which include and are not limited to professions, higher learning institutions, majors and scholarships.
It also offers to each learner an individual planner, electronic mail account and a provision for information and other data storage.
ECOS also does a lot of good to teachers and tutors. For example, a tutor can keep an eye on his or her students all the way through the scheme. This is due to the fact that he/she has right of entry to every learner’s user name and secret code, and this offers him or her way into every student’s information right through the program.
Submission of course assignments and term papers is made much easier since they are able to be placed on the home page. By this means, a student who was absent from class or fails to remember an assignment is able to log in and verify the day by day assignment.
Despite the fact that there are various benefits associated to using this program, there also exist aspects that call for reflection upon prior to full execution. One of these aspects is the accessibility of the scheme to the learners. The question to ask is whether each and every learner is able to access a computer and cyberspace service.
The second element to be mulled over is if ECOS offers electronic mail availability to the learners. The aim of this is to offer the chance for students to correspond with institutions of higher learning, counsellors, and tutors/teachers, among others.
While this is a great inspiration, the Cumberland district learners are not permitted to send electronic mail to anyone by use of school computers. This is an issue that will need to be worked out ahead of this scheme being lastingly added to the program of study.
Main Stakeholders
There are various major stakeholders in this assessment. The first one is the Eastern Illinois Education for Employment System, commonly referred to as EIEFES. This is Cumberland’s backer. Another major player here is Dennis Hutchings, learner services controller for EIEFES.
The management and members of staff of Cumberland High School are the other very important players. The stated stakeholders have individual roles to play in the evaluation criteria.
Evaluation questions
To start in on an assessment, one has to be aware of the requirements of the client and other players. The issues proposed to be covered here are carved up into two groups. These are; learner sphere and teacher sphere. For the learner domain, some of the questions to be asked are aimed at establishing various facts as illustrated.
How simple or complicated is the ECOS scheme to access, whether direction-finding within the scheme is straightforward or easier said than done, is the tutoring unambiguous and comprehensible, the components of the ECOS scheme one uses, how functional these components are, their by and large observation on the scheme, the aspects liked and those disliked about the scheme, disparities in log-ins across the sexes, among others.
For the tutor/teacher sphere, the clarifications to be made include; the way in which they utilize the ECOS scheme in their lecture rooms/classrooms, how simple or complicated is the ECOS scheme to access, whether direction-finding within the scheme is straightforward or easier said than done, is the tutoring unambiguous and comprehensible, the components of the ECOS scheme their student(s) used, how functional these components are for themselves and their students, their by and large observation on the scheme, the aspects liked and those disliked about the scheme, any particular complexities that they came across in the course of the scheme use, whether the exploitation of this scheme props up any of the Illinois State learning objectives, if the ECOS is an adequately important means that he or she can advocate purchasing the scheme for their institution with local resources, whether EIEFES should go on putting forward this scheme to member institutions.
Other vital questions that will arise with time will be put forward during the assessment. The following questions touching on the cost will also be put forward; the expenditure to the locality, to ECOS, the backer, parents and the learners themselves, the existence of any prospect costs, for example, post graduation for learners and tutors.
Evaluation process
Assessment of the ECOS scheme will be an arrangement of various types. It will be explanatory and comprehensive with emphasis being laid on the use of the system. As an addition an end-user tailored assessment will be made available. These thoughts as they speak about this assessment will be made clear right through this section.
Descriptive
This assessment will be explanatory, in the sense that it will illustrate the outcome of the orchestration used to collect information.
Summative
The assessment will be summative in the sense that it will carry out just what it entails by classification. It will offer scheme administrators and would-be end-users with decisions concerning the scheme’s importance in relation to essential standards, to settle on taking up, continuance or termination.
Utilization-Focused
This is aimed at ensuring that all involved stand to benefit. The outcome of this exercise will in fact be used for the improvement of the ECOS scheme.
Consumer-Oriented
This assessment is end-user orientated in the sense that definite objectives or measures are not the centre of attention. The spotlight will be more on if the scheme is achieving the end-user’s goals. This ensures that the program is actually bound to achieve its set objectives and guarantees the success of the program.
Foundation for evaluation
The key motivation for carrying out this evaluation is to find out if the ECOS site is beneficial to the students at Cumberland High School. Derived motives for this evaluation are to assist ECOS offer an educational tool that is easy to use and ready to lend a hand to high school students and to establish whether it is worth the resources invested in it.
This evaluation is thus a very important part of the program since it ensures that the school invests in a beneficial program and thus it provides a basis for forecasts of the benefits of the program and future audits of the same.