The Usability of E-learning Platforms in Higher Education: A Systematic Mapping Study

The use of e-learning in higher education has increased significantly in recent years, which has led to several studies being conducted to investigate the usability of the platforms that support it. A variety of different usability evaluation methods and attributes have been used, and it has therefore become important to start reviewing this work in a systematic way to determine how the field has developed in the last 15 years. This paper describes a systematic mapping study that performed searches on five electronic libraries to identify usability issues and methods that have been used to evaluate e-learning platforms. Sixty-one papers were selected and analysed, with the majority of studies using a simple research design reliant on questionnaires. The usability attributes measured were mostly related to effectiveness, satisfaction, efficiency, and perceived ease of use. Furthermore, several research gaps have been identified and recommendations have been made for further work in the area of the usability of online learning

Knowledge Transfer in Science Education: The Case for Usability-Based Knowledge Visualization Guidelines

There is growing evidence that visualization aids knowledge transfer. However, the cases where learners have been actively involved as cocreators of knowledge visualization aids are limited. Furthermore, employing knowledge visualization for teaching and learning in high-school science have been proposed but empirical evidence of the effect on knowledge transfer is limited. The purpose of this study is to report on the knowledge transfer effect of applying usability-based knowledge visualization guidelines. A design-based research methodology guided by pragmatism was applied. The data capturing methods include a questionnaire-based survey, interviews and observations. The results suggest that the use of knowledge visualization can support knowledge transfer and the students’ learning experience in secondary school education, but more research is required to confirm this. The contribution of this paper is to add to the emerging discourse on the use of knowledge visualization for teaching and learning, and to report on how knowledge visualization guidelines can be used in practice.School of Computin