This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonThe widespread adoption of E-Learning has largely been driven by the recommendations of educational technologists seeking to convey the benefits of E-Learning as a valuable accessory to teaching and possible solution for distance-based education. Research in the E-Learning domain has mainly focused on providing and delivering content andinfrastructure. Security issues are usually not taken as central concern in most implementations either because systems are usually deployed in controlled environments, or because they take the one-to-one tutoring approach, not requiring strict security measures. The scope of this research work is to investigate the impact of Access Control and Copyright in E-Learning system. An extensive literature review, theories from the field of information systems, psychology and cognitive sciences, distance and online learning, as well as existing E-Learning models show that research in E-learning is still hardly concerned with the issues of security. It is obvious that E-learning receives a new meaning as technology advances and business strategies change. The trends of learning methods have also led to the adjustment of National Curriculum and standards. However, research has also shown that any strategy or development supported by the Internet requires security and is therefore faced with challenges. This thesis is divided into six Chapters. Chapter 1 sets the scene for the research rationale and hypotheses, and identifies the aims and objectives. Chapter 2 presents the theoretical background and literature review. Chapter 3 is an in-depth review of the methods and methodology with clear justification of their adaptation and explains the underlying principles. Chapter 4 is based on the results and limitations obtained from the six case studies observations supported with literature review and ten existing models, while Chapter 5 is focused on the questionnaire survey. Chapter 6 describes the proposed Dynamic E-Learning Access Control and Copyright Framework (DEACCF) and the mapping of the threats from the Central Computing and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) Risk Analysis and Management Method (CRAMM) to Annualised Loss Expectancy (ALE). Chapter 7 presents the conclusions and recommendations, and the contribution to knowledge with further development plans for future work
