With advances in technology and an ever increasing international student body, distance e-learning programmes have become an attractive and flexible way of disseminating knowledge and allowing students from different backgrounds to study for a degree without having to leave their countries and employment. However, the speed at which on-line teaching materials are being developed to cater for the growing demand for distance learning programmes should not lead to a neglect of thorough evaluation procedures of the pedagogic effectiveness of different e-teaching methods. It is important to develop integrated evaluation procedures as part of any teaching and learning environment, especially if it is affected by the rapid development of functionalities which is the case in any virtual learning environment.

Whilst it is possible to respond to student bodies at local levels and via face-to-face contact, it is much more difficult to do so within the diverse and remote distance e-learning community. Methods of evaluating distance e-learning programmes in light of their particular properties and the diversity of the student body remain under-explored and current evaluation procedures such as SET and SEM do not cater for this particular learning environment.

In order to ensure that distance e-learning students maximally benefit from their learning experience, a thorough evaluation that considers the delivery of the various components of distance e-learning programmes has been carried out based on Horton’s (2001) research on response evaluations. A multi-method approach was applied to achieve this, consisting of focus-groups, one-to-one interviews, questionnaires and group discussions carried out with a student cohort on a distance learning MA in the School of English Studies. The results of the data analysis demonstrate that evaluative procedures should include the following: an assessment of students’ ability to use various technologies at the commencement of modules, and frequent monitoring of this throughout the course; the use of discussion boards and chat rooms as a formal part of course assessment to enhance the development of a virtual learning community; the use of chat rooms to provide ‘live’ contact with course supervisors; a component that assesses the user friendly nature of modules; a component that assesses the extent to which the presentation and delivery of the e-learning materials stimulate and intellectually satisfy learners.

These results demonstrate that a far more frequent, varied and flexible approach to evaluation needs to take place at various stages of learners’ progression through modules. These findings have been used to inform a set of guidelines for good practice in the evaluation of distance e-learning programmes that can be utilised by other staff in the University.