The discussion begins with a broad overview of the roles and outcomes of evaluation of distance learning technologies. Portraying the setting, instructional content, and the age, ethnicity, educational level, interests, learning styles, and experiences of the learners helps stakeholders relate often independently evaluated parts of the program to the whole.
Explanation generally uses description to point out relationships among program components.
By understanding these relationships we can take steps to change projected outcomes more to our liking. Validation involves testing the explanation to be sure that it works. Generally speaking, while description, explanation, and validation play critical roles in evaluation, they are not viewed with equal emphasis. Frequently, description and explanation are given precedence in evaluation studies for three primary reasons. First, validation often takes a more limited view, focusing on the manipulation of a single variable while ignoring other parts of program operation.