Assessing Virtual Learning Environment in Malaysia’s Public University

Public Universities in Malaysia are having many programs offered to their students and using e-learning or VLE as their platform, which mostly enrolled by distant learning students. However, no research report found on the current state of VLE practices whether they should be maintained or improvised. Assessment on process capability should be done to ensure quality operation of VLE. This study aims to assess the process being carried by the higher education provider to identify which process of VLE practice require critical improvement. Using e-Learning Maturity Model (eMM), a group of active lecturer/instructor in e-learning was selected to assess current practices of VLE. The study identifies major processes which require critical improvement based on specific dimensions to enhance VLE operations in higher education institutions. Majority of VLE processes were found to be inadequately practiced. Infrastructure of the VLE platform require serious makeover while teaching and learning support towards students and teacher demands attention. Continuous improvement effort is neglected. Involvement of administrators, librarians, and students as the assessor of the VLE practice to accommodate more specific results are recommended for future study

Using a maturity model to move student engagement practices beyond the generational approach

This paper proposes that the generational approach to conceptualising first year student learning behaviour, while it has made a very useful contribution to understanding that behaviour, can be expanded upon. The generational approach has an explicit focus on student behaviour and it is suggested that a capability maturity model interpretation may provide a complementary extension of that as it allows an assessment of institutional capability to initiate, plan, manage and evaluate institutional student engagement practices. The development of a Student Engagement, Success and Retention Maturity Model (SESR-MM) is discussed along with Australasian FYE generational data and Australian SESR-MM data

Offenders and E-Learning - a literature review on behalf of Becta

This literature review has been prepared by the Hallam Centre of Community Justice at Sheffield Hallam University, on behalf of Becta. The literature review provides a summary of existing research and knowledge relating to e-learning in the offending learning sector with a view to developing a range of e-maturity indicators across the sector. The review also highlights linkages with current Government policy in relation to offender learning and skills

Correlating Architecture Maturity and Enterprise Systems Usage Maturity to Improve Business/IT Alignment

This paper compares concepts of maturity models in the areas of Enterprise Architecture and Enterprise Systems Usage. We investigate whether these concepts correlate, overlap and explain each other. The two maturity models are applied in a case study. We conclude that although it is possible to fully relate constructs from both kinds of models, having a mature architecture function in a company does not imply a high Enterprise Systems Usage maturity

A Management Maturity Model (MMM) for project-based organisational performance assessment

Common sense suggests that organisations are more likely to deliver successful projects if they have systems in place that reflect a mature project environment based on a culture of continuous improvement. This paper develops and discusses a Management Maturity Model (MMM) to assess the maturity of project management organisations through a customisable, systematic, strategic and practical methodology inspired from the seminal work of Darwin, Deming, Drucker and Daniel. The model presented is relevant to organisations, such as construction and engineering companies, that prefer to use the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK™ Guide) published by the Project Management Institute (PMI), but without the disadvantages of excessive time and cost commitments and a ‘one size fits all’ approach linked to rigid increments of maturity. It offers a game-changing advance in the application of project-based organisational performance assessment compared to existing market solutions that are unnecessarily complex. The feasibility of MMM is field-tested using a medium-sized data centre infrastructure firm in Tehran

Kesediaan pelajar politeknik kejuruteraan elektrik dalam menceburi bidang keusahawanan

Bidang keusahawanan kini semakin berkembang maju selaras dengan seruan kerajaan yang banyak memberi dorongan kepada rakyat Malaysia agar menjadikan usahawan sebagai kerjaya utama. Kajian yang dijalankan adalah untuk mengenal pasti kesediaan pelajar bidang kejuruteraan elektrik di Politeknik bahagian zon selatan yang terdiri daripada Politeknik Melaka (PM), Politeknik Ibrahim Sultan (PIS), Politeknik Merlimau (PMM) dan Politeknik Port Dickson (PPD) dalam menceburi bidang keusahawanan. Seramai 291 orang pelajar terlibat dalam kajian ini. Kajian yang dijalankan adalah berasaskan Model Integratif Keusahawanan Input dan Keluaran, Model Asas Proses Keusahawanan, Teori Tingkah Laku Terancang, Model Pembangunan Usahawan dan juga Model Proses Pembentukan Usahawan Data kajian diperolehi daripada borang soal selidik yang mengandungi 73. Nilai kebolehpercayaan, Alpha Cronbach bagi instrument kajian adalah 0.957. Dapatan yang diperolehi dianalisis dengan menggunakan perisian komputer Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) Versi 16.0 untuk mendapat nilai frekuensi, peratus dan juga pekali korelasi. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan min bagi setiap elemen kesediaan yang dikaji ialah pengetahuan (3.60), kemahiran (min: 3.45), dorongan (min: 3.74), minat (min: 3.72), pengalaman (3.20) dan kepimpinan (min: 3.80). Manakala min bagi kekangan sikap ialah 2.56. Dapatan kajian juga mendapati bahawa hipotesis yang menyatakan bahawa terdapat hubungan yang signifikan antara minat keusahawan dan kepimpinan keusahawanan ditolak (r: 0.46). Berdasarkan kajian ini, dirumuskan bahawa elemen kesediaan keusahawanan bagi diri pelajar politeknik berada pada tahap sederhana

Developing professionalism in new IT graduates? Who needs it?

A new graduate may require a period of ‘acclimatisation’ through a process of ‘developing their professionalism’ to fit into their work environment. The e-Skills UK Technology Counts Insights 2010 report suggests that 110,500 new entrants a year are required to fill IT & Telecoms professional job roles, with 20,800 coming from education (predominantly graduate level and higher). However, 43% of recruiters were reporting a lack of suitable candidates for IT & Telecoms posts where growing importance will be placed on relationship management, business process analysis and design, project and programme management. IT & Telecoms professionals are increasingly expected to be multi-skilled, with sophisticated business and interpersonal skills as well as technical competence. As the report also says: ‘UK growth will continue to be primarily in high-value roles with an increasing need for customer and business-oriented skills as well as sophisticated technical competencies.’ The diverse needs and requirements of the IT sector, as specified by various employer groups and professional bodies including BCS, IET, eSkills, the CBI and the SFIA Foundation, are discussed. According to the CBI, ‘62% of entrants to the IT sector need to draw on managerial and professional business skills almost immediately.’ For organisations to succeed, their IT graduate recruits must supplement their IT skills with managerial and professional business skills. Well considered CPD will ensure that recent graduates can enhance their ‘academic’ skills with the necessary work-based skills for the benefit of both themselves and their new employer. The focus of the improvement will balance the student-centred needs for development and the engaging employer’s commercial needs

Enterprise information security policy assessment - an extended framework for metrics development utilising the goal-question-metric approach

Effective enterprise information security policy management requires review and assessment activities to ensure information security policies are aligned with business goals and objectives. As security policy management involves the elements of policy development process and the security policy as output, the context for security policy assessment requires goal-based metrics for these two elements. However, the current security management assessment methods only provide checklist types of assessment that are predefined by industry best practices and do not allow for developing specific goal-based metrics. Utilizing theories drawn from literature, this paper proposes the Enterprise Information Security Policy Assessment approach that expands on the Goal-Question-Metric (GQM) approach. The proposed assessment approach is then applied in a case scenario example to illustrate a practical application. It is shown that the proposed framework addresses the requirement for developing assessment metrics and allows for the concurrent undertaking of process-based and product-based assessment. Recommendations for further research activities include the conduct of empirical research to validate the propositions and the practical application of the proposed assessment approach in case studies to provide opportunities to introduce further enhancements to the approach