How can you verify educational technology evaluation?

1 Define your purpose and criteria

Before you start your evaluation, you need to have a clear purpose and criteria for your evaluation. What are the goals and objectives of your technology intervention? What are the expected outcomes and indicators of success? How will you measure and analyze them? How will you report and communicate your findings? Having a well-defined purpose and criteria will help you plan your evaluation, select appropriate methods and tools, and align your evaluation with your stakeholders' needs and expectations.

2 Choose suitable methods and tools

Depending on your purpose and criteria, you can choose from a variety of methods and tools to collect and analyze data for your evaluation. For example, you can use surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, tests, quizzes, portfolios, logs, analytics, or rubrics. However, you need to ensure that your methods and tools are suitable for your context, population, and resources. You also need to ensure that they are valid, reliable, and ethical. Validity refers to the extent to which your methods and tools measure what they are intended to measure. Reliability refers to the extent to which your methods and tools produce consistent and accurate results. Ethics refers to the extent to which your methods and tools respect the rights, privacy, and dignity of your participants.

3 Apply triangulation and peer review

One way to verify your evaluation is to use triangulation and peer review. Triangulation means using multiple sources, methods, and perspectives to cross-check and corroborate your data and findings. For example, you can compare the results of a survey with those of an interview, or the views of teachers with those of students. Peer review means seeking feedback and input from other experts or colleagues who can provide constructive criticism and suggestions for improvement. For example, you can ask a fellow evaluator or a researcher to review your evaluation plan, data collection instruments, or report.

4 Document and justify your decisions

Another way to verify your evaluation is to document and justify your decisions throughout the evaluation process. This means keeping a record of how and why you made certain choices, such as your evaluation questions, methods, tools, data sources, analysis techniques, or interpretations. This will help you explain and defend your evaluation to your stakeholders, as well as identify any limitations, assumptions, or biases that may affect your evaluation. It will also help you reflect on your evaluation practice and learn from your experience.

5 Share and disseminate your results

Finally, you can verify your evaluation by sharing and disseminating your results with your intended audience and beyond. This means presenting and reporting your findings in a clear, concise, and relevant way that addresses your evaluation purpose and criteria. It also means engaging your stakeholders in a dialogue about the implications, recommendations, and actions based on your evaluation. Sharing and disseminating your results can help you increase the visibility, credibility, and utility of your evaluation, as well as solicit feedback and suggestions for future improvement.