Program Evaluation Metrics for U.S. Army Lifelong Learning Centers

Abstract

Lifelong Learning Centers (LLCs) comprise a suite of technologies that enable online posting of schoolhouse curricula and collaboration among distributed learners. These technologies connect the field Army to Army schoolhouses, simultaneously improving course currency and supporting training in the field. The impact of lifelong learning on organizational excellence seems clear. However, it is unknown how LLCs promote readiness using educational technology and how LLC effectiveness should be measured. The purpose of this research was to develop a comprehensive, generalizable framework for conceptualizing the effectiveness of LLCs and for capturing the drivers of success. The framework and associated metrics were used to conduct an evaluation of a pilot LLC located at Fort Leavenworth. This evaluation indicated the importance of taking a causal approach. An assessment of outcomes alone would have indicated that the initiative had achieved its goals but would have obscured the fact that some of these goals--teaching and learning effectiveness--were achieved largely independently of the use of learning technologies. The basis of the framework in theory makes it generalizable not only across current and future LLCs, but also across other blended learning initiatives, addressing a gap in the scholarly literature regarding the effectiveness assessment of educational technology.