This document provides a rubric to evaluate online courses with criteria in several areas: design, focus, content, writing style, grammar and punctuation, message effectiveness, and intended audience. The rubric asks evaluators to comment on each area and assign a rating from 1 to 5. Key areas of evaluation include how pleasing and easy to navigate the design is, how clear the focus of the course is, how well the content matches the focus, the writing style and voice used, any grammar or spelling errors, how effective the message is, and whether the intended and actual audiences align.

1. Evaluation of online learning (Rubric to evaluate online courses)
Evolution items Your comments Degree (1-5)
The first thing that you see when
looking at the course is its design. Is
the design pleasing to the eye? Is the
Design site cluttered or difficult to navigate?
Are there any glaring design flaws or
glitches, or is the site a work of art?
What is the focus of the course? If
you can’t figure it out, then the author
is doing something wrong. Focus
Focus should be apparent without hunting
around too much. Typically by using
design elements, or simple headlines
or sub-headlines a site must convey
its focus.
The most obvious element to cover in
your review is the course’s content.
Does the content of the course match
Content its focus? If not, there is a problem! Is
the content easily readable? Does it
make sense? What are some of the
highlights? Is there a page, article or
section of the course that really stands
out as being fantastic?
Writing style is one element that
many people often ignore. Does the
author share his/her voice? Do you
find yourself relating to what you
Writing Style
read? Is the style professional or does
the author blabs on about their dying
goldfish in every post?

2. Does the course use proper
grammatical elements? Are there
Grammar and
spelling mistakes and punctuation
Punctuation
errors all over the place?
Overall, do you find that the site is
Message Effectiveness effective in putting out its message?
Who is the intended audience for this
site or blog? Are the intended and
Course Audience
actual audiences different?