Evaluation of the eLearning Collaborative Development Fund

Key Findings about the eCDF projects

• All projects involved in the initial round of eCDF successfully delivered the required outputs, although they varied considerably in the extent to which those outputs involved effective sharing and dissemination to the wider sector.

• Capability building through the eCDF in tertiary institutions has been greatest with regard to development in strategic policy, operational systems and technical infrastructure, and least with regard to staff development.

• eCDF projects cemented some existing partnerships among several tertiary institutions and promoted efficient common practice in them, more than it created new collaborations.

• The sustainability of projects varied largely, depending on the nature of the capability-building goals set. The most sustainable of the projects were those that had a product development focus or some ongoing funding from other sources. The least sustainable projects tended to be those with a professional development focus, where the time or financial resources for funding were not forthcoming.

• The great majority of eCDF institutions had a well-established profile in eLearning before the projects. Consequently, the eCDF was more successful in assisting early-adopter institutions to extend their range of existing eLearning capabilities than in creating new capabilities in institutions with little or no eLearning experience.

Key Findings about the scope of eLearning in the sector

• The knowledge and use of eCDF projects are significantly greater in eCDF institutions than in non-participant institutions and are greater in polytechnics than other institution types.

• Strategic management capability in eLearning is being beuilt in the sector, but more in the larger tertiary institutions than the smaller institutions and private training enterprises.