E-learning has become an increasingly important teaching and learning mode in educational institutions and corporate training. The evaluation of e-learning, however, is essential for the quality assurance of e-learning courses. This paper constructs a four-phase evaluation model for e-learning courses, which includes planning, development, process, and product evaluation, called the PDPP evaluation model. Planning evaluation includes market demand, feasibility, target student group, course objectives, and finance. Development evaluation includes instructional design, course material design, course Web site design, flexibility, student-student interaction, teacher/tutor support, technical support, and assessment. Process evaluation includes technical support, Web site utilization, learning interaction, learning evaluation, learning support, and flexibility. Product evaluation includes student satisfaction, teaching effectiveness, learning effectiveness, and sustainability. Using the PDPP model as a research framework, a purely e-learning course on Research Methods in Distance Education, developed by the School of Professional and Continuing Education at the University of Hong Kong (HKU SPACE) and jointly offered with the School of Distance Learning for Medical Education of Peking University (SDLME, PKU) was used as a case study. Sixty students from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Malaysia were recruited for this course. According to summative evaluation through a student e-learning experience survey, the majority of students were very satisfied/satisfied on all e-learning dimensions of this course. The majority of students thought that the learning effectiveness of this course was equivalent, even better, than face-to-face learning because of cross-border collaborative learning, student-centred learning, sufficient learning support, and learning flexibility. This study shows that a high quality of teaching and learning might be assured by using the systematic PDPP

This paper sketches major developmental processes of building a web for workplace professional communication through Chinese and English languages at a tertiary institution in Hong Kong. The strategic development of the web comprised three phases, namely, pre-design, design and post-design ones. In the pre-design phase, learners' needs in terms of the levels of web support and the necessary contents were assessed. Together with a comparative analysis of similar relevant webs offered by tertiary institutions in Hong Kong, the tentative assessment results were employed to generate a site plan for the web. In the design phase, when the web pages were written, a number of strategic factors were taken into consideration. In the post-design phase, the web was tested, modified and finalized through an evaluation survey. Eventually, new research issues relating to online distance learning and its further web advancement will be briefly addressed.
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In recent years the number of students entering higher education in China’s inland has soared to unprecedented levels. Courses at colleges of further education offering access to higher education are now commonplace. Opportunities for mature students to return to higher education have also increased. Partnerships are being formed with employers and others to provide lifelong learning for employees.
As a result of the sheer physical size and population dispersion in China’s inland, many potential students have been denied equal access to courses because they are not geographically convenient. To satisfy both the demands of students and to maintain quality, a long-term view of flexibility in higher education would prove more practical. Web based learning and more traditional on-site methods of delivery can co-exist and, with rigorous quality control, lead to substantial improvements to both modes of delivery as well as research activity.
In this paper, the author argues that web based teaching may provide the best solution to the difficulties involved in higher education reform in China’s inland. The future, in terms of information technology, is here to be exploited. Meeting the challenges of such a large educational market, whilst maintaining quality, will entail a radical review of how course quality is assessed. The author further compares the situation in Hong Kong and China’s inland.