The EvaluateIT Kit: A Method for Engaging Communities in Evaluating IT Projects

Hearn G¹*, Lennie J²*

1. CIRAC, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
2. June Lennie Research & Evaluation, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

All community development projects that involve communication and information technologies (C&IT) rely on interactive participation with community members and stakeholders. Participation in design, content development, literacy building and training are all important. When it comes to evaluating the impacts and effectiveness of community IT projects, participation is equally important. So how can community IT projects be evaluated in an inclusive and participatory way? This presentation outlines how this can be achieved using an online resource kit developed by Queensland University of Technology and its industry partners – www.evaluateit.org. The EvaluateIT kit is one of the results of three years of intensive research with two rural communities who were developing projects such as community websites to enhance their communities and improve communication and learning. In this interactive presentation we will:

• Show how participatory action research and participatory evaluation can be applied to the task of evaluating community IT projects.
• Outline the process involved in designing and developing the EvaluateIT kit.
• Present results of focus group discussions on the kit with rural and regional participants.
• Discuss case studies of how community groups used the process outlined in www.evaluateit.org to improve their C&IT projects
• Identify how conference participants can adapt the kit to meet their own needs.

Click here to view the full paper