Technology: How do we Know it Works?

Does educational technology work? Does its application in classrooms help children learn? Can teachers improve their own understanding and practice through technology? Ideas and guidelines for evaluation are presented here, including the following: Plan evaluation of technology at the beginning of an innovation, not at its end. Identify evaluation goals, the focus and emphasis of the innovation and its goals, key participants, and key beneficiaries; address which roles are important for participants and which points are especially critical; document how administrative and program decisions are made; note philosophic underpinnings to be considered. Decide on measures of outcome and impact—both to provide the data and to decide whether the findings are sufficiently good to warrant continuation, revision, and redeployment of the project. Consider using technology itself in the testing and evaluation process, such as computer-based assessments and a new analytic tool developed by the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST) for handling multiple sets of data.