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

E-learning Program Effectiveness on Students’ Learning Satisfaction at Telkom University Bandung

The purpose of this research is to know how the effectiveness of the implementation of the e-learning program that was applied by Learning Development Unit, Telkom university, how the learning satisfaction perceived by the students who used the e-learning, and the influence of the effectiveness of the implementation of e-learning programs on students’ learning satisfaction at Telkom University.This research used quantitative methods. Data were collected by using questionnaire which was distributed to 100 students, who used e-learning, as respondents. To interpret the results of the research, the researchers used descriptive analysis and simple linear regression analysis. The result showed that the effectiveness of the implementation of the elearning program and the learning satisfaction were high. The implementation of the e-learning program also had significant positive effect towards the students’ learning satisfaction, which means the higher the effectiveness of the implementation of elearning program, the higher students’ learning satisfaction was.     Keywords: effectiveness, students’ learning satisfaction, e-learnin

Law Learning in Action: An Action Learning Project to Evaluate Processes and Outcomes of using Law E-learning Objects in Social Work Education

This document reports on a research project funded by the Social Care Institute for Excellence to evaluate the processes and outcomes (for social work students and educators) of using a suite of e-learning objects within law teaching on social work degree programmes. The e-learning objects in question were published by SCIE in 2007, and those involved in their development were keen to explore how they were being used, and what their impact might be. The research, which started in 2008 and reached completion in 2010, has tracked a group of educators in 6 universities as they have engaged in a process of collaborative capacity building, through participation in a learning set designed to support their own engagement with e-learning and to develop skills in evaluating their outcomes for students. A full list of the SCIE law e-learning objects and their associated learning outcomes is given at Appendix 1

Evaluation of social personalized adaptive E-Learning environments : end-user point of view

The use of adaptations, along with the social affordances of collaboration and networking, carries a great potential for improving e-learning experiences. However, the review of the previous work indicates current e-learning systems have only marginally explored the integration of social features and adaptation techniques. The overall aim of this research, therefore, is to address this gap by evaluating a system developed to foster social personalized adaptive e-learning experiences. We have developed our first prototype system, Topolor, based on the concepts of Adaptive Educational Hypermedia and Social E-Learning. We have also conducted an experimental case study for the evaluation of the prototype system from different perspectives. The results show a considerably high satisfaction of the end users. This paper reports the evaluation results from end user point of view, and generalizes our method to a component-based evaluation framework

Social e-learning in topolor : a case study

Social e-learning is a process through which learners achieve their learning goals via social interactions with each other by sharing knowledge, skills, abilities and educational materials. Adaptive e-learning enables adaptation and personalization of the learning process, based on learner needs, knowledge, preferences and other characteristics. In this paper, we present a case study that analyzes the social interaction features of a social personalized adaptive e-learning system developed at the University of Warwick, called Topolor. We discuss the results of a quantitative case study that evaluates the perceived usefulness and usability. The results demonstrate a generally high level of learner satisfaction with their learning experience. We extend the discussion of the results to explore future research directions and suggest further improvements for the studied social personalized adaptive e-learning system

Is there a fit between pedagogy and technology in online learning?

The study followed a group of online lecturers from different disciplines who were engaged in different levels of online teaching. The researchers' experiences with e-learning have indicated there are a variety of ways by which teaching staff approach e-learning. As new technologies provide a challenge to make learning an interactive and collaborative experience that is guided by a social constructivist approach to teaching and learning, some academic staff embrace the technology to enhance their pedagogy and others are reluctant to use the technology, although in the pedagogy they promote is a social constructivist learning approach. We conducted a qualitative research project in an attempt to answer the research questions of what pedagogies are used by teaching staff to facilitate e-learning, and how do teachers change their use and understanding of e-learning techniques. The study suggests that there is a continuum in the way the constructivist pedagogy had been implemented by the different university teachers and also a continuum in the way the technology had been embraced by them. From our observations, we categorised the university teachers in relation to their pedagogies (level of social constructivist approach) and to the level at which they used the technology, in order to explore how the relationship between these two elements changed. The study helps us understand how the technology enabled some of the teachers to develop their pedagogies and change their perspectives on social learning online. In addition, for others who used social features of the technology to an optimal level, the technology helped them accommodate and reinforce the notion of a social constructivist approach to teaching and learning. Finally, the interchange between the ability to use the technology and the adoption of social constructivist approach to teaching raised new questions in relation to implementation of online learning

Apply the We! Design methodology in E-learning 2.0 system design : a pilot study

During the emergence of Web 2.0, the methodologies and technologies of E-learning have developed to a new era, E-learning 2.0, emphasises on social learning and the use of social interaction tools. The students are the main end-user of the E-learning 2.0 systems, so it is essential to take students' opinions into consideration during the design process of such systems. The We!Design participatory design methodology is proposed for incorporating undergraduate students in the development of educational systems. This pilot study aims to investigate how the We!Design methodology would work and what the results might propose, and gather initial preferences and improve the quality and efficiency of the larger scale studies in the future

Exploring participatory design for SNS-based AEH systems

The rapidly emerging and growing social networking sites (SNS) offer an opportunity to improve adaptive e-learning experience by introducing a social dimension, connecting users within the system. Making connections and providing communication tools can engage students in creating effective learning environment and enriching learning experiences. Researchers have been working on introducing SNS features into adaptive educational hypermedia systems. The next stage research is centered on how to enhance SNS facilities of AEH systems, in order to engage students’ participation in collaborative learning and generating and enriching learning materials. Students are the core participants in the adaptive e-learning process, so it is essential for the system designers to consider students’ opinions. This paper aims at exploring how to apply participatory design methodology in the early stage of the SNS-based AEH system design process

Social networking and open educational resources: updating quality assurance for e-learning excellence

Quality assurance approaches in higher education are well-established, but it is important to develop methods which are applicable to the domain of e-learning. The E-xcellence methodology (EADTU, 2009a) was therefore designed to assess the quality of e-learning in distance learning and blended learning contexts. The methodology is based around a set of benchmarks, supported by a practitioner handbook and a web-based ‘QuickScan’ self-evaluation tool. Experience shows that the E-xcellence methodology is particularly valuable for the process of improvement through collaborative internal review. E-learning has evolved since the E-xcellence methodology was first developed. In particular, there is increasing awareness and use of open education resources (OERs) and social networking. However, these aspects were not explicit in the original E-xcellence resources. The E-xcellence Next project was therefore established to update the resources, incorporating these developments. To begin this process, a consultation was carried out among E-xcellence Next project members, followed by a participatory workshop on the themes of social networking and OERs. The E-xcellence resources were also used in a series of self-evaluation seminars held at European higher education institutions. Experience and feedback from these activities has been used to update the manual, the benchmarks and the QuickScan tool. The result is a set of quality assurance resources which encompass social networking, OERs and other recent developments in e-learning