The Online Academy Formative Evaluation Approach to Evaluating Online Instruction

The Online Academy (HO29K73002) was funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to develop online instructional modules in the content areas of reading, positive behavior support, and technology across the curriculum. Targeted to preservice teacher education programs in institutions of higher education (IHE), to date, the modules have been adopted for implementation by 162 institutions. A requirement of the funding agency was that the content of the modules be research based. A total of 75 lessons in 22 online modules and an authoring software tool were developed. Each module is approximately equivalent to a one-semester credit course. This paper describes the formative evaluation processes that were employed in creating the instructional design, design and production processes, content development, usability and navigational features of the modules, and the national implementation process.