Evaluating the critical success factors for sustainable E-learning ecosystems in tertiary education
Creators: name: Sridharan, Bhavani
Publisher: name: RMIT University
Year: 2024

description: The central theme of e-learning is to leverage the transfer of both tacit and explicit knowledge from the teachers to learners, and the learners to learners, through various means facilitated by information and communication technologies. In recent years, e-learning has gained momentum due to its strong market potential and popularity. An investigation into the literature reveals the four interrelated critical dimensions that are essential for enhancing the e-learning effectiveness: pedagogies, technologies, learning resources and management of learning resources. There is, however, not much research on evaluating the complex interaction between these four dimensions for influencing the e-learning effectiveness. This study develops and evaluates an e-learning success model for gaining a better understanding of the intertwined critical factors that influence the effectiveness of e-learning based on the perceptions of e-learning stakeholders. A cross-sectional research design using interviews and survey for data collection is identified as effective for answering the research questions proposed in this study. A multi-method data collection approach, namely in-depth interviews with e-learning providers and an online survey, is adopted.<br><br>The multi-method data analysis uses both qualitative and quantitative analyses of information (and data) collected from interviews and a survey instrument respectively. The main findings from the qualitative analysis show that the use of multiple pedagogies associated with technologies and learning resources are fundamental to enhance the e-learning effectiveness, nevertheless not widely practised due to various barriers and challenges. There is a varying view on the influence of the management of learning resources on enhancing the e-learning effectiveness. Based on the perceptions of e-learners, the research further shows that the management of learning resources, technologies, learning resources and metadata ontologies play a significant role in enhancing the e-learning effectiveness; and the pedagogies have no significant influence on enhancing the e-learning effectiveness. The research findings suggest the need for various policy initiatives for effective implementation of the proposed model. This involves adequately addressing the barriers identified in this study and choosing a pragmatic approach to incorporate the critical factors identified in this study. This study highlights a distressing gap between theory and practice with respect to the adoption of the critical dimensions of e-learning ecosystems. It indicates the disparity between the perceptions of e-learning providers and e-learners on the critical dimensions for influencing the e-learning effectiveness. Furthermore, this study shows the need for taking appropriate policy measures to remove the gap between theory and practice, and remove the disparity between the e-learners’ demands for facilities and the e-learning providers’ provision of facilities. Finally, the study also suggests the need for aligning pedagogies with associated technologies, learning resources, metadata ontologies and management of learning resources for sustainable e-learning.