As teachers and learners are faced with the potential of new learning environments, the extent to which the learning outcomes are achieved remains a high priority and subject to a wide range of evaluation strategies. Conventionally, evaluation is often conceptualized as occurring at the end of the development process, to assess first (formatively) whether or not the creative effort has achieved the original product goals and second (summatively) whether or not the desired learning outcomes were achieved. This paper presents an additional perspective to the post-development, reactive evaluation processes in proposing the concept of proactive evaluation. This framework identifies the following critical online learning factors and influences to better inform the development of learning resources: strategic intent; content; learning design; interface design; interactivity; assessment; student support; and outcomes. In essence, the proposal advocates an approach where development is undertaken within an environment where all activities are assessed using the evaluation criteria that would be applied when the product is assessed reactively. By performing these checks proactively, online learning resources will, in principle, work first time as all relevant factors and issues will have been considered and resolved. (Contains 10 references.) (Author/MES)