AVD Merge Evaluation Strategy Outline

The overall objective of the AVD-Merge project is the development, validation, and dissemination of an appurtenant knowledge base of pedagogical/didactical recommendations and technical expertise on best utilization of AVD communication services in education. From this point of view, the evaluation strategy employed in the project integrates both technical and instructional design principles. Evaluation focuses on the objective generation of input, comments and feedback during the project on the knowledge base system sub-modules, their integration into a comprehensive service, and the multimedia training modules that will be developed. Information will be gathered from multiple sources on the usability (user-friendliness), acceptability, and value added to the educational process by the services and content provided by the system, in a way that will empower end-users and will stimulate educational organizations to integrate AVD learning environments in distance teaching settings.