Modern Assessment Techniques in eLearning

This post is provided by guest blogger, Darryl Barrios, graduate student University of St. Francis, MS Training and Development program

As we continue to look for ways to improve learning outcomes, delivering a more personal learning experience for our students is becoming increasingly important.  Key to this is successful assessment procedures.  While exams and quizzes have been an integral part of learning assessment, due to the dynamic nature of eLearning these techniques are not enough.  More creative and personalized assessment techniques will be needed to improve student engagement and provide the analytics needed to gauge student performance.  Approaches such as simulations, group assessments, and interactive tests are just a few of the new techniques that are being implemented.

Satyabrata Das’ article Modern Assessment Techniques in eLearning (2024) breakdowns the reasons why changes in eLearning assessment procedures are needed.  The article starts with brief examples of creative assessment techniques and while what is presented is informative, presenting examples would have helped.  This is followed by a brief review of the importance of assessments, as well as stressing the need for promptness and fairness.  While the information presented in these sections was useful, it was weakened by the lack of data supporting the claims.  Ultimately, this article serves as a great starting point for someone looking to improve their assessment procedures.

Reference: Das, S. (2024, August 25). Modern Assessment Techniques in eLearning. eLearning Industry. Retrieved from https://elearningindustry.com/modern-assessment-techniques-in-elearning

How to Implement eLearning In an Effective Manner?

This post is provided by guest blogger, Darryl Barrios, graduate student University of St. Francis, MS Training and Development program

Despite the growth of eLearning, for most, education continues to mean classroom sessions with teachers.  As the world continues to evolve, so does education.  While most organizations are onboard with eLearning, it takes time to learn to skills and techniques to make it successful.  Implementing eLearning requires three basic steps:  Planning, implementation itself, and evaluation.  During implementation, it is important to keep common challenges, such as lack of student engagement and technological hurdles, at the forefront.  Assessing your needs, planning your courses and goals, and communicating with all parties throughout the process are all key to a successful launch.

Sergi Movchan’s (2025) article How to Implement eLearning In an Effective Manner? provides a straightforward explanation of the process of identifying the process for implementing an eLearning system.  He begins by identifying the common challenges that organizations face during this process.  This is followed by outlining basic tips that any organization can follow to ensure a successful launch.  Throughout the article, he links to other articles that help expand on many of the steps that are required.  This article is a great primer for anyone who is looking to begin the process of implementing an eLearning program.

Reference: Movchan, S. (2025, February 28).  How to implement eLearning in an effective manner?  Racoon Gang. Retrieved from https://raccoongang.com/blog/how-implement-elearning-effective-manner/

Instructional Design Strategies for eLearning

This post is provided by guest blogger, Darryl Barrios, graduate student University of St. Francis, MS Training and Development program

Instructional design strategies play an important role in creating effective courses, and eLearning courses are no exception. When it comes to online learning you need more than engaging content, you need a strategic approach. Instructional Design helps you to create structured, engaging, and personalized learning experiences. To create an effective instructional design strategy there are five components that you need to consider. They are content, visuals, media, assessments, and technical aspects.  If these five items are considered alongside your core instructional design principles, you should be able to create a strategy that provides an engaging experience for your learners.

Dr. Sandhya Johnson’s (2025) article Instructional Design Strategies for eLearning [What, Why, & How] contains not only an exploration of how instructional design strategies serve as the key to creating impactful eLearning courses, but it also includes important background information, such as the differences between instructional design models and instructional design strategies, that help those who may be approaching these concepts for the first time a clear explanation of how the discussed concepts fit together.  She also provides examples of some of the most popular instructional design strategies.  My only criticism would be the lack of analytics regarding the chosen examples.

Reference: Johnson, S. (2025, March 18). Instructional design strategies for eLearning [What, Why, & How]. CommLab India. https://blog.commlabindia.com/elearning-design/instructional-design-strategy-importance-in-elearning

Following Top Trends in Educational Technology

This post is provided by guest blogger, Darryl Barrios, graduate student University of St. Francis, MS Training and Development program

There have been several changes in educational technology over the last few years and there are no signs that this will slow down anytime soon.  Learning about trends in the field can help organizations prepare to quickly implement process changes.  The trends that seem to be garnering the most attention are the use of unconventional platforms, such as TikTok, integrating AI into your processes, datafication and analytics to get insights on student performance and engagement, immersive learning systems, and blockchain for handling records.  Each of these trends has one thing in common:  They are working to make education more accessible.

Sofia Kondrat’s article “Top Trends in Educational Technology [2025]” offers valuable insights for individuals and organizations that are involved in educational development.  The article contains concrete examples as well as statistics from reputable sources, including links back to those sources.  The article also points out that it is not comprehensive but that it is presenting a snapshot of the direction educational technology is developing.  The information in this article would be very useful for educational development professionals to plan for the future of their processes.

Reference

Kondrat, S. (2025, March 14). Top Trends in Educations Technology [2025]. EducateMe. Retrieved from https://www.educate-me.co/blog/trends-in-educational-technology