Evaluating instructional materials is essential for ensuring quality learning experiences. In 2024, there are 9 key aspects to consider when assessing these materials, including relevance, accuracy, clarity, and alignment with learning objectives. This guide explores these critical factors of evaluation of instructional materials to help educators and institutions select the most effective tools for student engagement and achievement.
| Aspect | Description |
| Content Quality | Evaluating the accuracy, relevance, and depth of the learning materials to ensure they meet the learners’ needs and educational goals. |
| The Connection Between Study Content and Tests | Assessing how well the assessments reflect the core learning objectives and content to ensure learners are tested on relevant knowledge. |
| Adaptive Materials and Feedback | Ensuring materials can adjust to individual learning styles and provide timely, constructive feedback to enhance understanding and retention. |
| Motivation | Examining whether the materials are designed to engage and motivate learners to stay committed to their learning journey. |
| The Design and Presentations of Materials | Reviewing the visual and structural elements to ensure they enhance comprehension, maintain clarity, and promote ease of navigation. |
| Interaction Usability | Analyzing the functionality of interactive elements to ensure they are user-friendly and contribute to an engaging learning experience. |
| Accessibility | Ensuring that materials are inclusive and accessible to all learners, regardless of physical or cognitive abilities, following best accessibility practices. |
| Reusability | Assessing whether the materials can be easily updated, modified, or repurposed for future use without major redesigns. |
| Standards Compliance | Verifying that the materials adhere to industry standards, including SCORM, AICC, or xAPI, to ensure compatibility and reliability across platforms. |
1. Content Quality
The importance of content quality in the eLearning evaluation process is indisputable. There are doubtless two vital aspects of any instructional materials: content and the way it is presented. Now we are focusing more on the criteria related to the evaluation of content.
In designing content, it is always advisable to be clear and accurate. False or misleading information, no matter how well you present it, is useless. Another aspect that makes good content is impartiality. The information must be carefully researched with sufficient supporting evidence. It must only present the truths for learners to study and choose sides for themselves. The content itself should not choose sides for the students.
Last but not least, the content should match the learners’ various levels in mind. The use of language and exercises should be suitable for learners of various levels. Also, there should be different kinds of exercises targeted at different groups of learners.
2. The Connection Between Study Content and Tests
Learning and assessment are two inseparable concepts in education. The outcomes of a learning process are measurable and usable only after assessment. This whole teaching, learning, and assessing process is by no means easy to manage because learning materials, online and offline, are often found to be irrelevant to tests.
To avoid this, teachers must carefully select content and exercises or activities so that they train students in the skills that will be tested in an exam. When designing content, teachers must ask what good the content does for students and what skills it highlights for students. Teachers should apply the same questions in designing additional materials in many forms.
3. Adaptive Materials and Feedback
The evaluation of instructional materials should not be limited to just providing information. Nowadays online materials can be brought to life using various technologies such as animation to enhance learning experiences. Therefore, the evaluation of online learning should be adaptive to learner characteristics and provide interactive feedback.
The adaptation of learning materials means they are designed to fit the strengths and weaknesses of individual students. For example, an animated instructional video for low-level students should be longer and have clearer and more relatable images than one for high-level students in the same subject.
Besides, materials need to have some form of feedback given to students such as an interactive answer key section where suggestive questions lead students to the answers. For example, SimCity does a great feedback job of showing students the consequences of their actions, which makes them reflect on important issues.
4. Motivation
We’ve discussed the importance of online student motivation before. Much of the motivation comes from the learning content and the presentation methods. Teachers should aim at student intrinsic motivation when designing learning materials.
Good motivational online materials are those that provide relevant, useful information and have decorations (animation, audio, etc.) that capture students’ interest and guide them toward the knowledge, have interactive features that let students participate in authentic activities, and many more.
5. The Design and Presentation of Materials
Good evaluation of online learning must take into account how the content is presented to students. Putting a bunch of texts in a video with the teacher’s voiceover does not make good online materials.
Instead, various audiovisual materials should be used to boost learning effectiveness. And the design (symbols, images, colors, infographics, audio, interactivity, etc.) of those materials should make students understand and remember concepts better.
6. Interaction Usability
This term refers to how easy it is for students to navigate through an online learning environment or material – whether they can understand and use the features easily or not. A learning website or material should be user-friendly so that students can focus more on the interaction with the content, rather than the setting options.
To increase interaction usability, especially for a learning website, designers should use clear instructions, help features, and familiar symbols that web users usually associate with certain functions.
7. Accessibility
For learners to study any online materials, they have to access them first. Evaluation of learning materials accessibility asks the questions of:
- Whether learners can see and use the materials via their smartphones, tablets, etc.
- Whether the materials are in the familiar file formats that do not need converting.
- Whether they are stored in a place accessible by people who need the materials.
Accessibility is also about how easy it is for disabled or impaired people to use online materials. For example, if one of your students has a very poor vision, can he use your graphic materials as well as others?
8. Reusability
Good evaluation of learning materials should also consider reusability, which describes how easy it is to reuse the materials in various learning contexts and with different groups of learners. For example, if you have an instructional video on making animated videos for online learning, is it suitable for both novices and intermediate users? Is it for various age groups to understand?
9. Standards Compliance
Ensuring that online learning materials adhere to industry standards like SCORM, AICC, or xAPI is essential for compatibility across various learning management systems (LMS). These standards ensure that content can be accessed smoothly, learner progress can be tracked, and technical issues are minimized.
Compliance also helps future-proof your materials, keeping them relevant as new platforms and technologies evolve. By meeting these standards, your eLearning content becomes more reliable and accessible to a wider audience.
To Sum Up
The evaluation of instructional materials is critical to ensuring they meet educational goals and enhance the learner’s experience. By focusing on these 9 essential aspects, you can ensure that your resources are both engaging and effective. Regularly assessing and refining your materials will help keep them relevant and impactful, ensuring they continue to provide value in the rapidly evolving world of eLearning.
Read Further:
Sean Bui, the founder and creative director of F.Learning Studio, is a respected leader in the e-learning and multimedia production industry. With over 10 years of experience, he has dedicated his career to helping organizations create engaging and impactful learning experiences.
Under his leadership, F.Learning Studio has grown into a trusted partner for organizations in the education, healthcare, and corporate training sectors, producing over 2,000 minutes of educational animation.
