Developing a checklist or rubric identifying the goals and objectives as set forth by the instructor launches a starting point for assessing online learning. Educators quickly learn what works and what doesn't by asking simple questions of students. The survey can ask questions about how to better organize the course, how to better state the objectives of the syllabus or if students think they can complete online assignments in a timely manner. It also addresses feedback, grades and interaction with the teacher. Surveys and questionnaires work in both an assigned or anonymous manner.
Developing a test and giving students a grade is by far the easiest way to assess learning in any course. Teachers giving true/false, short-answer and multiple-choice questions can figure out what concepts, methods and material students learned throughout a course. Assessment using testing also allows teachers to develop statistical data to find out how online classes score versus in-class students. In an online course with an online test, teachers learn a number of things including how long it takes students to answer questions, which questions they answer first and how they answer them.
Assessing what students learn through interviews allows educators to get in-depth answers, finding out what they think of the course, how they learned and what they would do to make improvements. Interviewing gives the interviewer the chance to listen to the responses and ask follow-up questions. This process allows the interviewer to watch body language and how students answer questions, whether they hesitate, stutter or take a long time to answer questions. The tone of the voice also exposes how they feel and whether they seem generally excited about the material. Even if a course is online, Web conferencing software enables something that can mirror a face-to-face interview.
Learning journals allow students to reflect on what they learn, giving educators insight into what and how they learn. Students can write in their learning journal once a week, after every class or once a day. Depending on the level of the course, teachers should give students questions to answer to start the process. In an online course, giving students the opportunity to start a blog lets them write about what they learn in the course and also concepts and methods they struggle with throughout the course. The blog also lets other students read what is on the mind of their fellow students, making the learning process a collaborative effort.