The antecedents of e-learning adoption within Italian corporate universities: A comparative case study

The implementation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in business education appears to be influenced by a number of organizational issues, such as culture and technological sophistication. However, extant research has had very little to say about the antecedents that shape the adoption and diffusion of ICT across companies. In order to shed light on the phenomenon under investigation, this paper presents a comparative case study between five Italian companies that have instituted a corporate university. By distinguishing companies in typical cases and deviant cases with regard to the extensive use of e-learning technologies, our findings provide some useful insights about the antecedents that make companies more or less prone to employ the new frontiers of technology in their CUs

Courseware in academic library user education: A literature review from the GAELS Joint Electronic Library Project

The use of courseware for information skills teaching in academic libraries has been growing for a number of years. In order to create effective courseware packages to support joint electronic library activity at Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities, the GAELS project conducted a literature review of the subject. This review discovered a range of factors common to successful library courseware implementations, such as the need for practitioners to feel a sense of ownership of the medium, a need for courseware customization to local information environments, and an emphasis on training packages for large bodies of undergraduates. However, we also noted underdeveloped aspects worthy of further attention, such as treatment of pedagogic issues in library computer‐aided learning (CAL) implementations and use of hypertextual learning materials for more advanced information skills training. We describe how these findings shaped the packages produced by the project and suggest ways forward for similar types of implementation

Stewardship in Distance Education: A Comparative Analysis of Technologies that Support Student Learning

Effectively facilitating the growth of learners demonstrates prudent stewardship (Galatians 6:10; Genesis 2:15). As wise stewards of what God has entrusted to them, Christian educators are challenged to identify factors critical for supporting students’ learning in whatever environment they are teaching. When teaching in the online environment, this includes adopting technological applications to support learning. This study compared the use of two technological applications and their affect on student learning. Findings provided evidence that online graduate learners who used the combination of a content management system and e-conferencing system reported significantly higher perceptions of learning than learners who used only the content management system. Additional findings were not significant

The social impact and cultural issues affecting the e-learning performance in Libyan Higher Education institutes

This paper analyses the social impact and cultural issues which affect the e-learning performance in Libyan Higher Education institutes (HEIs). It is described the development and implementation of e-learning systems in various HEIs with the emphasis on the digital gap in Libya and barriers to successful e-learning implementation in these institutions. Also the social impact of using e-learning packages and Internet by young people in Libya is studied and a SWOT analysis of ICT and e-learning in Tripoli University is performed in order to improve the effectiveness of the use of e-learning systems in Libyan HEIs

Evaluating learning and teaching technologies in further education

With the current emphasis on quality assessment and the role of evaluation in quality assessment, it is likely that teachers in post‐compulsory education will increasingly be expected to evaluate their teaching, especially when making changes to their teaching methods. In Further Education (FE), there have been a number of developments to foster the use of Information and Learning Technologies (ILT), following the publication of the Higginson Report in 1996. However, there is some evidence that the adoption of ILT has been patchy

Some philosophical enquiries on E-learning: preparing the tomorrow business school

Emerging digital technologies and increasing interest in the computerized delivery of higher education have led to e-learning through electronic mail, the Internet, the World Wide Web (WWW), and multimedia. The major objective of this research outlet is to examine the e-learning evolution in business schools. Our research intentions are to investigate: 1. if universities understand the market dynamics (regarding to segmentation and crossing the chasm); 2. mapping the s-curve to student needs and 3. how business schools will change the value map. From the analysis of existing empirical evidence and our research results from 140 business students of the University of Ioannina (Greece) and 50 business students of the University of Winchester (UK), we can summarize that: a. value is created when new technology is matched to student need; b. but student needs change: as the technology evolves existing students develop new needs and in addition the technology may appeal to new kinds of students, with new kinds of needs and c. understanding the structure of student needs may be particularly important at times of potential discontinuity, when existing students may reject new technologies (for excellent reasons!).  The authors suggest that business schools interested in being productive should invest in implementing performance tools for all educational methods in order to accomplish the educational objectives. Further research in this crucial field of the evolution of e-learning in business schools is the examination of anticipated benefits and the experiences by early e-learning adopters, return on investment and expectations for the future