A Study on Readiness and Implementation of E-Learning Among Academic Staff at Jordanian Institutions of Higher Education

This study investigated the degree of the readiness of academic staff towards the implementation of e-learning in universities in Jordan. The questionnaire incorporated items that addressed psychological, administrative, technological, affective and change factors. The questionnaire was administered to 367 academic staff from the north, middle and the south of Jordan. In addition, the researcher interviewed 24 academic staff. Thus, the researcher integrated quantitative and qualitative methods which combined the use of questionnaire and interviews. The researcher used descriptive statistics, one way ANOVA, t-test, correlation and hierarchical regression to analyze the data. The study revealed that the academic staff readiness towards the implementation of e-learning was high. The study also showed that the academic staff was making progress, but more efforts should be made to overcome some hindrances related to infrastructure and lack of e-learning tools. The results also showed that there was no difference in the degree of readiness between academic staff in public and private universities towards applying e-learning. Furthermore, the results indicated that there was no statistically significant difference based on gender, age, experience, type of university and ranks in applying e-learning. On the other hand, the study revealed that technology policy moderated the relationship between e-learning readiness and implementation. The researcher recommended that there should be more support from universities in providing the academic staff with sufficient tools that assist the adoption of e-learning. In addition, a strong legal policy should be established to support the mechanisms of adopting e-learning in universities. Upgrading computers in universities is very important to meet the increasing needs for speed and efficiency in adopting e-Learning