Tool For Quality Self-Assessment

What is a Project?

The tool for quality self-assessment of online educational services in non-formal adult education (referred to as the Tool) is an experimental development addressed to providers and organizers of educational programs of various application and complexity degree. The Tool was developed in 2024 by a team of experts. It includes a methodological model of online educational services and a checklist for autonomous use by providers of non-formal adult education.

The Tool was developed in response to the modern challenges faced by providers of services in non-formal adult education, both in Belarus and around the world. The challenges were the following:

The 2020 Belarusian socio-political events and the subsequent reaction of the authorities to them, which had an impact on the state of non-formal adult education in Belarus (especially in the non-profit sector and other sectors as well) through punitive measures against educators, the dissolution of providers and tightening of the activity framework conditions.

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent isolation measures that caused the rapid growth of online services in non-formal adult education.

These significant changes have affected the educational service quality, the providers’ competencies, and the ability of providers to unite to achieve shared goals in non-formal adult education.

3 languages

The Tool is available in 3 languages: Belarusian, Russian and English

Anonymity

To ensure security, the Tool is designed in such a way that it can be used offline

Free of charge

The Tool is free of charge

Project News

The methodology for evaluating online courses has received scientific recognition

14.10.2024

The methodology underlying the tool has undergone scientific review and received approval from experts in the field of educational process organization. An article by the authorship team was published in the fourth issue of the peer-reviewed Polish scientific almanac "Belarus and the World."
Alexandra Poznyak, Sofia Savelova, Vasily Pron, Valeria Volkogonova.

Presentation meeting

01.10.2024

On October 21 at 18:00 CET (19:00 Minsk time), there will be a presentation meeting on the ZOOM platform, during which the tool's expert authors will provide more details on its structure, purpose, and potential benefits. We invite potential and current online course authors, as well as representatives of adult education providers, to participate. Download the presentation

The Team of Authors

Vasily Pron

is an expert in non-formal education, with over 20 years of experience in conducting educational programs for adults. Owner and head of an organization in the field of NFE from 2005 to 2024, an expert in the assessment and development of educational offers, author of publications and interviews on self-development and adult education.

Alexandra Pozniak

is a Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor. She has long-term experience in research and teaching. She has participated in research in the field of assessment of quality and development of pedagogical education, formation of professional and personal competencies of students, etc. As a professor, she developed and taught courses on didactics, methods and methodology of scientific research, basics of management in education, etc. She has been working for a long time in the field of adult education, developing and teaching courses on professional development and professional retraining.

Sofia Savelava

is an independent consultant, expert and trainer in the area of developing education for sustainable development (ESD) practices for all generations, adult education and change management in education. She is also a specialist in educational support for the localization of sustainable development goals and strategic management at the local level. Master of Pedagogy.

Valeria Volkogonova

is a learning designer, non-formal education trainer, and a project manager in the field of civic education. She specializes in working with civil society organizations (CSOs) and international organizations, creating online and offline programs aimed at social transformation. She is interested in ethical management and the introduction of cross-cutting values into projects. Master of Public Administration (MPA).

About the Tool

This Tool is designed for providers of non-formal adult education working in online formats. With its help, providers can autonomously assess the quality of their online educational services

The purpose of the Tool is to help to improve the quality of online services being developed or already being implemented in non-formal adult education

The Tool is available for use by individual professionals as well as organizations working in both the commercial and non-profit sectors.
The Tool will be useful for both novice and experienced authors and educators seeking to create high-quality educational services.
The Tool can also be a useful resource for developing the professional competencies of non-formal education organizers.

The systemic impact of the inclusion of the developed
Tool in existing and new provider’s activities can be seen through the creation of a practice-oriented point of
cooperation efforts in favor of improving service quality and the sustainability of the entire
non-formal adult education sector

Expert Reviews

This tool has been a real boon for me! Thanks to it, I was able to objectively assess the quality of my online courses and identify weaknesses. Now my lessons have become more structured and useful for the listeners. I recommend it to everyone who wants to improve their educational products!
Elena, teacher of online courses
We have implemented this tool in our organization and are already seeing results! The quality of our online programs has noticeably improved and students are more engaged. It is very convenient that it can be used for small courses as well as large programs. A great resource for those who want to grow!
Alexey, Education Project Coordinator
As a beginning author, I didn't know where to start improving my courses. The tool helped me to systematize my work and check quality at every stage. I especially liked the possibility to use it both for personal work and in team projects. It really helps to develop!
Anna, creator of courses for adults

Instructions For Use

Step 1. To use the Tool, you need to select a specific online educational service (already delivered or designed), the quality of which you want to assess.

Step 2. Download two files (Methodological Basis of a Tool and a Checklist for Self-Assessment) in the language that is suitable for you.

Step 3. Check out the Methodological Foundations of a Tool, if necessary, in the process of working with the Checklist, return to the Methodological Basis.

Step 4. Proceed to work with the Checklist.

Step 5. The Checklist contains 9 blocks of questions in accordance with the 9 components of the proposed model for assessing the quality of online educational services.

Step 6. Each block contains several criteria for assessing the relevant component of an online educational service. Each criterion is assessed by selecting the degree of implementation of its indicators on a scale from 1 to 5 (where 1 represents the lowest score, meaning "poor", 5 is the highest score, meaning "excellent").

Step 7. Before proceeding to assess the quality of your online educational service for a specific component, you are invited to answer an introductory question that is formulated for each component. Your answer will determine further navigation through the Checklist. If your answer is negative, then the Tool developers recommend you not to assess the indicators of this component, but return to assessing the indicators of this component after preliminary preparation, which allows you to answer the introductory question positively.

Step 8. When assessing indicators, you can also make notes in the fields intended for this purpose, which will help you draw conclusions and make recommendations on your own to improve the quality of your online educational service.

Step 9. After assessing the indicators of all components, you can find diagrams on the next tab that give an idea of the weaknesses and strengths of your educational service by components and component criteria.

Step 10. All that is left to do for you is to analyze the diagrams, your grades and notes, note the weaknesses and strengths and make an action plan to improve/develop your educational service.

P.S. We wish you success in using the Tool!

Contacts

Feedback on Using the Tool

After using the offered Tool, we kindly ask you to leave feedback on its use, which will help improve and develop the Tool.

Leave feedback on using the Tool

You can also contact the team of experts to:

to send your suggestions on how to adjust the Tool,
to ask clarifying questions,
to offer cooperation,
to request expert assistance for conducting an external assessment, and more…