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At least once a year, it is important for a learning organization to evaluate itself by means of well-designed surveys. If you can develop diagnostic instruments that tie not only to best practices in one area, but incorporate vision, values, and project management philosophy with tactics and strategy, you will have a better idea of whether or not your organization is accomplishing its goals and heading in the right direction.

Without a procedure for systematically analyzing or assessing one’s online programs, courses, and administrative support, an institution is likely to encounter fairly intractable problems associated with growth and/or technological change.

Your surveys should be designed to have the following characteristics: a) provides almost instantaneous results by being easy to use; b) does not require an initial cost or investment; c) can be applied to users across the organization; d) improves coordination between an institution’s units; e) assures online program / course tie-in to the organization’s mission and vision; f) pinpoints areas that need immediate attention; g) facilitates a gap analysis by prioritizing needs and allowing one to suggest low-cost remedies; h) identifies programmatic strengths in order to build on them.

Think about focusing your first survey on learning effectiveness. This may present a problem if you have not clearly stated your desired outcomes. On the other hand, the lack of well-defined and specified learning outcomes could be a positive finding, and could lead to a clear idea of how to remediate the program. Keep in mind that you are striving for an integrative approach that requires close coordination between all stakeholders and participants, whether they are located in (or between) academic and administrative functions.

Ease of Use:

As you develop a survey instrument, or questionnaire, to administer in all units of your learning organization, be mindful of how it will be administered. Make sure that the approach is easy for everyone to understand. Also, keep in mind that you will have data to process. If you can develop an online survey that automatically tallies results, that will save you many valuable labor hours.

If the questionnaire is easy to use and administer, it is likely to be adopted across the institution. It is important that decision-makers and key implementation personnel in each unit participate. All stakeholders in the organization should be given the opportunity to critically analyze learning effectiveness from their point of view. Divergent opinions and visions will allow the organization to gain insight into the actual state of affairs.

Developing and Implementing an Affordable In-House Survey:

The questionnaire you develop should cost very little to implement and should not require an extensive investment of time or training to administer.

By being easy to implement at a very low cost, the organization begin to evaluate its program and approach in an integrative, across-the-institution manner. Ordinarily, this would be complicated and could involve expensive or conflict-engendering approaches. The diagnostic tool avoids that potential pitfall.

Improved Coordination:

The development of the questionnaire is the first step, and all stakeholders in the organization should be involved.

By involving stakeholders on every level of the organization, from implementation to administration, effective communication is established, particularly as individuals discuss the questions and review the results. Task forces can be established, and effective planning can be built on a foundation of concepts that are commonly understood by all.

Mission and Vision Tie-In:

Develop questions that revolve around your organization’s mission and vision. Be specific. How does each area of your organization connect to the mission and vision? How are their activities helping achieve the central mission?

The questions in the diagnostic survey instrument are designed to raise one’s awareness of how the online program and courses connect to the institution’s vision and overall mission statement.

The importance of this cannot be overstated: whether or not an institution achieves its objectives depends precisely on how it implements the mission and vision within each aspect of its online program. Learning effectiveness can be measured by means of outcomes assessments and development appropriate metrics. However, if the mission and vision are not somehow applied to the learning outcomes, then the overall effectiveness cannot be determined in any meaningful manner. While discussing results of the survey on learning effectiveness, the units are able to communicate with each other how they achieve the tie-ins to the institution’s vision and mission.

Pinpointing Areas that Need Attention:

Perhaps one of the most important results from the survey instrument is the fact that it allows the institution to pinpoint problem areas with a fairly high degree of precision.

One problem, however, is that you might be tempted to focus too much on the details and miss the big picture.

However, a close look at areas that need attention, with appropriate levels of detail also gives individuals in different units the opportunity to discuss remedies and to explore the reasons for potential issues. This is a triage approach, which is very valuable because it allows units to be aware of where the problems are and to determine the severity of the problem, and at the same time, encourages a dialogue about the nature, origin and impact of the problems.

Gap Analysis:

After you collect your data and analyze it, you should embark on a gap analysis. A successful implementation of your diagnostic survey instrument, followed by discussion and analysis of the questions, the results, and the proposed remedies facilitates a gap analysis.

Briefly put, a gap analysis is a detailed look at the status of one’s program (as determined by the diagnostic tool) as compared with the ideal status. Where does the organization want to be? Where is it at this point? The difference is the gap. Where are the small gaps? How is the gap closed? By prioritizing needs and allowing one to suggest low-cost remedies, the institutional units can close the gaps. The initial diagnostic survey instrument helps set the institutional units on the right path to real results.

Identified Strengths as a Foundation:

Develop questions that help you determine the strengths of your institution and the online program.

Then, make a list and rank the strengths. The make a list of the weaknesses. Which ones could be fatal to the organization or the program?

One benefit of this approach is its identification of strengths as well as weaknesses. The areas of the program that are most operationally effective are revealed. Where the institution is most clearly achieving its strategic goals becomes very clear. In developing action steps, particularly in conjunction with a gap analysis, the organization can follow the model established by the successful units or areas that are achieving maximum learning effectiveness. Building on success and strengths will allow the organization to present a unified front, and to coordinate development across academics, administrative support, and information technology. It also allows the organization to develop effective training and support for learners, facilitators, and subject matter experts.