The wide proliferation of the e-learning formation system become a true fact. The infrastructure delivered by the internet network permitted the decreases of the exploitation costs in favor of the beneficiary of formations. Like in the case of the classic system of formation a question about how to measure the its quality is raised. It is very specialized environment with the same actors like in the classic system too but with different type of interactions. Can we say that in both system the results are similar and their quality is the same. This paper reveal a model that can be used when try to evaluate the quality of this kind of system using specialized indicators for every aspect that can be measured.e-learning system, quality, indicators, beneficiary of formation elearning activities, e-learning materials

Assoc. Prof. Ph.D Berceanu Dorel

Assoc. Prof. Ph.D Costel Ionascu

English

Research Papers in Economics

 
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Revista Tinerilor Economişti (The Young Economists Journal) 
 
A MODEL OF ANALYSIS OF THE E-LEARNING SYSTEM QUALITY 
Assoc. Prof. Ph.D Costel Ionaşcu 
Assoc. Prof. Ph.D Berceanu Dorel 
University of Craiova 
Faculty of Economics and Business 
Administration 
Craiova, Romania 
Abstract: The wide proliferation of the e-learning formation system 
become a true fact. The infrastructure delivered by the internet network 
permitted the decreases of the exploitation costs in favor of the beneficiary 
of formations. Like in the case of the classic system of formation a 
question about how to measure the its quality is raised. It is very 
specialized environment with the same actors like in the classic system too 
but with different type of interactions. Can we say that in both system the 
results are similar and their quality is  the same. This paper reveal a model 
that can be used when try to evaluate the quality of this kind of system 
using specialized indicators for every aspect that can be measured.  
JEL classification: I21, C80 
Key words:  e-learning system, quality, indicators,  beneficiary of formation e-
learning activities, e-learning materials 
1. Introduction 
 
The necessity of continuous formation was highlighted many years  ago. The 
possibility of achieve new competences which generate important advantages become 
more attractive especially when the variation from work market are stronger and 
finding a workplace become more and more difficult. The classic way used for 
formation suppose some rigidity when we try to adapt to the structure of  formation 
program. This is one of its disadvantages. To eliminate this many formation alternatives 
was found that assure good correlation with the present’s conditions. E-learning was 
one of this formation alternatives. This new alternative form of training had proper 
conditions of development when information and communication technology permitted 
cheap, real time and complex communications, in other word affordable to anyone. The 
possibility offered to the beneficiary of formation to manage their time using a very 
personal and flexible manner was another advantage that convinced many to use this 
alternative. 
The later software development had permitted the increase of assistance level 
accorded to the beneficiary of training, including the possibility to personalize the way 
of  providing formation to different individual characteristics aiming the goal to 
increase the efficiency of learning process [1]. 
In the classic formation system, the transfer of knowledge is based on 
interaction between beneficiary of formation and a specialized personal in providing the  
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knowledge. The efficiency of formation process can be measured using the results of 
the intermediary and final evaluation tests. The same alternative exist in the e-learning 
system too. Beside that, because of the fact that in this kind of system there are many 
more types of data recorded automatically, regarding to the parameters of the formation 
process, that can be used to precise measure of the quality and efficiency of formation 
system using modern methodology from statistics and data mining for example. This 
analyze can reveal the best alternatives of particularization of the e-learning system to 
the individual characteristics of the beneficiary of formation and to increase the quality 
of formation process. 
The evaluation of the e-learning system quality can be done by using a neutral 
perspective and by using the perspective of the beneficiary of formation or the 
perspective of formators (figure no. 1).  First perspective can be used to evaluate the 
entire e-learning system. The second perspective can be used to evaluate the main 
components of the e-learning system often used by the beneficiary of formations and by 
the formators.   
For measuring the e-learning system quality we must be focused on evaluating 
of the following main components: 
  the e-learning infrastructure 
  the e-learning formators 
  the e-learning materials 
  the e-learning activities 
 
Figure 1. Perspectives used to evaluate the quality of the e-learning system. 
2. The quality of e-learning infrastructure 
The e-learning infrastructure include all the integrate hardware and software 
subcomponents which provide support for the formation services. The quality of e-
 
 
Quality of the e-
learning system 
 
 
 
The perspective 
of the  beneficiary 
of formation 
 
 
The 
neutral 
perspective 
The perspective 
of the formators  
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learning infrastructure is determined by the quality of both software and hardware 
subcomponents.  
Regarding the quality of the hardware subcomponent, this can be measured using 
the series of the technical parameters provided by existing specialized standards,  but 
the software subcomponent presents many peculiarities. It is not a question only about 
high performance of hardware but more about the connectivity and accessibility of it. 
 
 
Figure 2. The structure of the e-learning system 
  
The quality of the software subcomponent can be evaluated through the quality 
of the provided services and must aim the following: 
-  the management of the beneficiary of formation. For an evaluation of this we can 
use a survey which can reveal: 
o  the existence of the possibility to manage the beneficiary of formation 
on both side activities and financial;  
o  the existence of the possibility to organize the beneficiary of formation 
Beneficiary of 
e-learning 
e-learning 
activities 
Hardware subcomponent 
Software subcomponent 
e-learning system 
e-learning 
materials 
E-learning formators 
 
e-learning 
support  
activities  
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in virtual groups at different level (individual, virtual class, virtual 
campus etc.); 
o  the possibility of monitoring the activities of the beneficiary of 
formation aiming the goal to better adapt the e-learning system to the 
individual characteristics of them. 
-  the management of formation materials. For evaluating this we can use a survey 
that can include questions like: 
o   what are the capabilities supported by the system in managing the e-
learning materials? 
o  what are the limits for storage the e-learning materials? It’s very 
important because in the e-learning system, beside the journal of user 
activities, the learning materials is the component that will increase its 
size very rapidly. 
o  what are the possibility to structure the documents using various criteria? 
A good idea would be to make the evaluation from the perspective of the 
formators because usually they must insert the materials in the e-learning 
system. 
-  the accessibility of the e-learning materials. This can be measured using 
indicators like: 
o  the numbers of the e-learning materials that a beneficiary of formation 
can access simultaneously; 
o  the minimum number of necessary operation for accessing a formation 
material; 
o  the access speed to the formation materials (the minimum/average 
/maximum necessary time for all operation for viewing an e-learning 
material, the minimum/average /maximum necessary time to download a 
e-learning material ) 
-  the availability of the formation interface. This can be evaluated by identifying 
the following: 
o  the possibility of choosing the language – one of the most important 
barrier of e-learning system 
o  the structure of the commands 
o  the possibility of using natural input/output devices like touch screen, 
vocal interface. 
-  The number and the types of the offered services, like: 
o  The existence of the communication service (critical service). This can 
permit the communication between beneficiaries of formation and 
formators, between beneficiaries of the formation. The type of the 
communication services is also important. It can be text only, text and 
audio, text, audio-video. The capabilities of this service is critical for the 
e-learning system. It can permit only sequential interaction or real time 
interaction between the users of the e-learning system. 
-  The existence and the type of self-evaluation service (using multiple choices 
questions or interactive) 
-  The existence and the types of providing formation materials services (critical 
service). This service can provide only printable content, play only multimedia 
content of interactive multimedia content. 
-  The existence and the type of the examination service (critical service). It is  
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similar with the self-evaluation service. 
-  The existence and the types of the virtualization services. It can provide for 
example only virtual board, virtual class, virtual campus [3] [6]. 
-  The existence and the types of learning assistance services. This kind of service 
permit: 
o  the identifying of the learning profile for the formation beneficiaries; 
o  the adaptation of the e-learning system to the profile of formation 
beneficiaries; 
o  the management of the learning path for the beneficiaries of the 
formation. 
A good quality for infrastructure means: 
- a hardware that can support high and complex level connection; 
- a software component that can deliver all services for every actor of e-learning; 
- a system with a natural interface and easy to use for everybody; 
- a system with very prompt reaction to the demanding of the users;  
3. The e-learning formators 
In the case of e-learning system the requests that the formators must fulfill are 
different from the classic formation system requests. In the first case all the interaction 
between the beneficiaries of the formation and the formators it is realized through the e-
learning system. For this reason, besides of the professional competences the formators 
must have the competences for using ICT and the components of e-learning system. A 
simple task like answering to a question or presenting a demonstration, an example can 
solicit the formators more that in the classic formation system. They must have also 
abilities in working with very heterogeneous groups of people (different geographical 
locations, different ages, different cultural background etc.) [2]. 
The quality of the formators must be evaluated by focusing on: 
- the professional competences of the formators  
- the pedagogical competences 
- the abilities in using ICT 
All of this can be evaluated by using specialized tests and by the specialists 
from the field.  
4. The e-learning materials 
  Unlike the classic formation system, in the e-learning system, the formation 
materials have a different conception based on idea that the interaction between the 
formators and the beneficiary of the formation it is not a direct interaction and it is 
possible only through the e-learning system. Because of that the e-learning materials 
have a higher level of details and many practical examples to make possible the 
assistance of the beneficiary of formation without the presence of the formators. Taking 
advantages of the ICT the e-learning materials can have a various characteristics [4] 
like: 
-  level of interaction with the beneficiary of formations: 
o  noninteractive (for example print format) 
o  partial interactive (for example audio-video playable format) 
o  highly interactive (for example multimedia interactive format)  
-  delivery format: 
o  print only format  
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o  audio only 
o  video only 
o  multimedia interactive [7]. 
-  specific target devices: 
o  for using on personal computers 
o  for using on mobile device like PDA or smart phones. 
-  reusability: a component of an e-learning material can be used in other e-learning 
materials [8]. 
In the e-learning system the quality of formation materials must be focused at least 
on: 
-  a specific format 
-  the level of assistance assured for the beneficiary of formation 
-  a specific educational content 
For the first type of characteristics the quality of e-learning materials can be 
evaluated against standards for e-learning like SCORM 2004 [5]. 
For the second and the third type of characteristics the quality can be evaluated from 
the perspective of the specialists from the corresponding domain and from the 
perspective of beneficiary of formation [9]. Both can be evaluated by using specialized 
survey. 
A high quality of the e-learning material can be defined by: 
-  a multiple and flexible levels of assistance for beneficiary of formation. 
-  an interactive content that can easy interact with the beneficiary of formation and 
active also in a sense that  can provide a base to obtain informations about the 
learning activity realized by the beneficiary of formation. For instance, one of 
the possibility for obtaining informations is to have e-learning materials 
integrated into a concept map. 
-  a high level o reusability for its contents 
-  small storage size. When the e-learning materials are very compact it is very 
easy to transport them. The size of the e-learning materials can have direct 
influence on the performance of the e-learning system. 
A survey from the perspective of beneficiary of formation can include questions like: 
-  How much you can understand from this material? 
-  What kind of the presentation form do you prefer for the e-learning materials? 
-  How much effort you must realize to learn the content of this e-learning 
material? 
-  How much the e-learning materials help you to pass the exams? 
5. The e-learning activities 
In a typical e-learning system there are two main types of activities (figure no. 2): 
1.  e-learning support activities 
2.  e-learning activities of beneficiary of formation 
The first type of activities takes place between the formators and the e-learning 
system. This type of activities may include:  
-  creating the content for the e-learning materials; 
-  uploading the e-learning materials into e-learning system; 
-  assisting the beneficiary of formation in the e-learning activities; 
-  communicating with the beneficiary of formation 
-  analyzing the progress of each beneficiary of formation and adjusting the  
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learning path; 
The second type of activities may include the following categories of activities: 
- learning activities 
- evaluation; 
- communication between beneficiary of formation or between them and the formators 
The evaluation of the e-learning activities can be done by using indicators that 
highlight the size the structure and the intensity of each of them. 
 
E-learning support activities can be measured by using indicators like: 
- minimum/average/maximum time for creating a component of an e-learning material 
- minimum/average/maximum time for creating all component of an e-learning material 
- minimum/average/maximum time for uploading a component of an e-learning 
material 
- minimum/average/maximum time for uploading all components of an e-learning 
material 
 
Learning activities of beneficiary of formation - this type of activity include all 
activities that involve the use of the e-learning materials (like on-line studying, 
downloading, interaction with the interactive e-learning materials), evaluation activities 
(like self-evaluation and exams), communications activities. 
For evaluating learning activities we can measure for each beneficiary of formation, 
at level of different groups of beneficiary of formation, at level of each e-learning 
material or at level of e-learning material’s components  a series of indicators like:  
-  on-line session duration 
-  time structure of on-line session: % from session duration used for on-line 
studying; % from session duration used for downloading the e-learning 
materials. 
-  minimum/average/maximum time for on-line studying 
-  minimum/average/maximum time for downloading 
For evaluating the evaluation activities we can use: 
-  the minimum/average/maximum number of self-evaluation at level of each 
beneficiary of formation and each e-learning material or each component of each 
e-learning material 
-  the minimum/average/maximum number of correct answers at level of each 
beneficiary of formation and each e-learning material or each component of each 
e-learning material 
-  the number of self evaluations unfinished in time 
-  the minimum/average/maximum time used for each question from self-
evaluation at level of each beneficiary of formation and each e-learning material 
or each component of each e-learning material 
The same indicators can be used for evaluating the exams. 
 
For all this indicators we can study the trend too. 
We can determine many correlations between them to find out more information  
about the e-learning system. All above indicators can be used as starting point for 
determining other compound indicators that can accurate and complete measure the 
quality and efficiency of an e-learning system.  
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Personalized e-learning system using Item Response 
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Cooper M. 
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Beyond formal learning: Informal community eLearning,

Characterising effective eLearning resources,

Community building, emergent design and expecting the unexpected: Creating a quality eLearning experience,

Creating the first SCORM object,

Developing interactive multimedia Learning Objects using QuickTime,

Development of intelligent reusable learning objects for web-based education systems,

E-learning and accessibility: An exploration of the potential role of generic pedagogical tools,

Personalized e-learning system using Item Response Theory,

Quality Enhancement for E-Learning Courses: The Role of Student Feedback,

A MODEL OF ANALYSIS OF THE E-LEARNING SYSTEM QUALITY

A MODEL OF ANALYSIS OF THE E-LEARNING SYSTEM QUALITY

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