Just in case you didn't know, last year the US Department of Education published a meta-analysis of research done on the effect of online learning on educational outcomes. One interesting finding: a blended approach - combining online with face-to-face - was more effective than either completely online or face-to-face learning (in order of decreasing efficacy).

A review of the study from Inside Higher Ed can be found at The Evidence on Online Education And you can download the full report at Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning

This evidence will certainly be informing our approach to learning technology @ Jhpiego...

At Jhpiego we use task analysis of recent graduates to guide curricular review. As you point out, it is silly to initiate educational change if it won't better prepare students to perform in the real world.

Assessment has been very much on my mind, lately. And I've been thinking that a high-level "More, Better, Faster, Cheaper" framework could potentially be a very simple yet effective means of evaluating ICT4D across all sectors, including education. I look forward to what this month's discussants have to share!