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This study reports an analysis of 10 years in the life of the Internet-based Master in Educational Technology program (iMET) at Sacramento State University. iMET is a hybrid educational technology master's program delivered 20% face to face and 80% online. The program has achieved a high degree of success, with a course completion rate of 93% and a graduation rate of 84%. iMET is based on Lave and Wenger's seminal community of practice (CoP) model, which is identified by faculty and students as key to the program's success. This study applied a value creation framework (VCF) created by Wenger, Trayner, and de Laat for assessing value creation in a CoP. The article presents detailed information concerning the framework and how it was applied. It then outlines how a social network analysis led to findings that value was created in the iMET CoP and how the value created led to a sustained CoP currently entering its 13th year.

With contemporary requirements for objective measurement, program evaluation is a certain necessity. Most program evaluation is designed in response to external demands for assessment. Moreover, such evaluation is typically developed only after programs already exist. However, the proliferation of online learning provides new opportunities for approaching evaluation. Specifically, many higher education institutions are currently augmenting existing campus-based programs with online learning—either by hybridizing traditional delivery or by providing parallel online options. At the University of Hawaii, while designing a parallel online delivery model for an existing campus-based program, careful consideration was given to the unique requirements for evaluation and assessment. In this way, an overall plan for evaluation was developed that incorporated multiple layers of assessment: from specific programmatic to internal university to external accreditation requirements. Commonalities among the multiple layers were considered to develop a single, overall evaluation approach. In a case study model, this paper describes eight practical steps taken to develop an overall, effective evaluation model.

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