A sustainable quality assessment model for the information delivery in E-learning systems
| Pages | 1-25 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/IDD-11-2016-0047 |
| Date | 19 February 2018 |
| Published date | 19 February 2018 |
| Author | Shahid Farid,Rodina Ahmad,Mujahid Alam,Atif Akbar,Victor Chang |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Library & information services,Lending,Document delivery,Collection building & management,Stock revision,Consortia |
A sustainable quality assessment model for the
information delivery in E-learning systems
Shahid Farid
Department of Computer Science, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan
Rodina Ahmad
Department of Software Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Mujahid Alam
Informatics Complex (ICCC), Islamabad, Pakistan
Atif Akbar
Department of Statistics, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan, and
Victor Chang
IBSS, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, China
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this study is to propose a sustainable quality assessment approach (model) for the e-learning systems keeping software
perspective under consideration. E-learning is becoming mainstream due to its accessibility, state-of-the-art learn ing, training ease and cost
effectiveness. However, the poor quality of e-learning systems is one of the major causes of several failures reported. Moreover, this arena lacks
well-defined quality assessment measures. Hence, it is quite difficult to measure the overall quality of an e-learning syste m effectively.
Design/methodology/approach –A pragmatic mixed-model philosophy was adopted for this study. A systematic literature review was performed
to identify existing e-learning quality models and frameworks. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with e-learning experts following
empirical investigations to identify the crucial quality characteristics of e-learning systems. Various statistical tests like principal component analysis,
logistic regression, chi-square and analysis of means were applied to analyze the empirical data. These led to an adequate set of quality indicators
that can be used by higher education institutions to assure the quality of e-learning systems.
Findings –A sustainable quality assessment model for the information delivery in e-learning systems in software perspective has been proposed by
exploring the state-of-the-art quality assessment/evaluation models and frameworks proposed for the e-learning systems. The proposed model can
be used to assess and improve the process of information discovery and delivery of e-learning.
Originality/value –The results obtained led to conclude that very limited attention is given to the quality of e-learning tools despite the importance
of quality and its effect on e-learning system adoption and promotion. Moreover, the identified models and frameworks do not adequately address
quality of e-learning systems from a software perspective.
Keywords Quality, Information delivery, Quality assessment, Quality characteristics, Quality models and frameworks, Quality of e-learning system
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Rapid development in internet technologies makes this universe
possible to become a global village. However, it is not possible to
achieve this goal of globalization without global information, and
global information cannot exist without global education.
Undoubtedly, with the advancement of information and
communication technology (ICT), this universe is becoming
global village, and universities are adopting the latest information
and communication tools in forming this universe as a global
village. Higher education institutions (HEIs) are switching to
ICT for the better, efficient, effective and flexible learning, i.e.
e-learning. Integration of ICT in education has created new
horizons in the form of electronic learning (e-learning). It is a
useful tool for teaching, learning and training to the users
especially in remote areas. E-learning has generated a lot of new
opportunities in education by extending the potential to reach the
new learners to deliver education (Arif et al.,2014). Numerous
world-leading universities are offering courses through the use of
ICT to the distant learners to become “dual mode universities”
to attract more and more learners from the remote areas (Farid
et al., 2015a,2015b;Islam and Selim, 2006). HEIs round the
globe are looking at the advancements in ICT as the savior in
coping with their different problems including cost and quality
(Selim, 2007). This steady growth rate in the adoption of
e-learning has raised different questions about its quality, e.g.
how can we measure quality, what are the minimum indicators
for the quality of e-learning systems and so on.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on
Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/2398-6247.htm
Information Discovery and Delivery
46/1 (2018) 1–25
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 2398-6247]
[DOI 10.1108/IDD-11-2016-0047]
Received 29 November 2016
Revised 12 October 2017
Accepted 13 October 2017
1
It is a fact that the impact of ICTs in education is a global
phenomenon. This adoption of ICT in education and training
is creditworthy creating the competitive environment between
educational institutions regardless of the borders (Burkle and
Sayed, 2001;Laurillard, 2001;Meredith and Newton, 2003;
Phipps and Merisotis, 1999). There are many stakeholders of
e-learning system. These stakeholders include learners/users,
instructors/faculty, institutions, administration, software
developers, instructional designers, managers, online
facilitators, multi-media designers and learning objects
developers (Abdellatief et al., 2011;Olsina et al., 2001;Ozkan
and Koseler, 2009;Selim, 2007). However, users, managers
and software developers are considered to be the most
important stakeholders of e-learning system (Abdellatief et al.,
2011). Whereas, it is urged by Selim (2007) that thereare four
major stakeholders of e-learning in HEIs including learner,
instructor, institution and administration. Hence, the quality
standards differ from one stakeholder to another as quality
requirementsfor every stakeholder vary drastically. To facilitate
the HEIs with the better, efficient and economical solution,
different researchershave come up with the different e-learning
approaches and models to minimize the increasing thirstof the
educational institutions and industry in e-learning (Meredith
and Newton, 2003). These models undertake to develop a
framework which deals with the concerns of the learners and
the issues regarding the technology in the delivery of effective
quality of e-learning(Dutta et al.,2011).
E-learning is still in its infancy, but it is developing rapidly,
and this growing industry can flourish only when there is an
effective quality assessment mechanism (models or
frameworks) for such products.This study intends to propose a
sustainable quality assessment approach (model) for the
e-learning systems keeping software perspective under
consideration. The proposed modelis core contribution of this
work. This work also contributes by providing guidelines to
HEIs to assess the quality of e-learningsystem they are using or
planning to adopt. Moreover,this work contributes in a fashion
that it facilitates theresearchers and academicians by providing
recommendations for future aspects regarding e-learning
quality. The implication of the study is to support HEIs with
the diverse aspects in software perspective to assess the quality
of their e-learning system.
The focus of this study is based on the following research
questions:
RQ1. What are the state-of-the-art quality standards/models
for the e-learning systems?
RQ2. What are the quality goals (characteristics)which have
been established by the existing quality models of
e-learning system?
RQ3. Which quality characteristics are crucialfor the quality
assessment of e-learningsystems in the context of HEIs
of developing countrieslike Pakistan?
RQ4. What is the impact of proposed quality characteristics
on the overall quality of e-learningsystems?
This paper is organized as follows. Section II explains the
background of e-learningand quality in e-learning. This section
further delineatesthe analysis of the existing quality models and
framework of e-learning systems. Section III comprises
research design, describingresearch tools and methods applied
during this study. Structure of Sustainable QualityAssessment
Model for E-learning Systems (SQAMELS) is defined in
Section IV. SectionV highlights the implication of this work for
theory and practice. Section VI reflects the limitations of this
study and Section VII conclude this study with some future
aspects of thiswork.
2. Literature review
The term e-learninghas different meanings in various contexts.
In the higher education arena, it refers to the case where
learning is performed through internet-based delivery of
information, contentsand programs (Chang, 2016;Nicholson,
2007). Web browsers have been used as a tool for the
interaction with learners and other information systems (IS)
like e-learning. These systems provide an environment to
alleviate learning and teaching activities among learners,
teachers and institutions(Hassanzadeh et al., 2012). E-learning
environment (sometimes also known as e-learning tools)
consists of learning management system (LMS), content
management system (CMS), knowledge management system
(KMS) or contents authoring tools (Babu, 2005;Moore et al.,
2011;Wilen-Daugenti, 2009). E-learning environment is an
IS, based on World Wide Web (Lee and Lee, 2008). The Web
is an ideal platform for offering a lot of related information to
the learners. According to IEEE Learning Technology
Standard Committee:
[...] a learning technology system that uses Web-browsers as the primary
means of interaction with learners, and the internet or an intranet as the
primary means of communication among its subsystems and with other
systems (Ngai et al., 2007).
We can safely urge that any learning system which is capable of
interacting and communicating between instructors, students
and/or other systems via networking technologies can be
defined as an e-learningsystem.
Many HEIs have implemented Web-based learning systems
(Selim, 2007) to increase the performance of learners. More
than 1,000 institutions in 50 countrieshave adopted e-learning
practices (Bhuasiriet al., 2012). In addition, online enrollments
have been arising substantially faster than enrolments in
general in HEIs in the USA (Koohang et al., 2009). According
to Giga Information Group, nearly 75 per cent of the 129 top
US universities are offering educational services using
Web-based learning systems in 2007 (Wang andWang, 2009).
This statistical information shows that e-learning is becoming
dominant which have caused dramatic changes in the field of
higher education (Penna and Stara, 2008). This increasing
popularity of e-learning raised numerous questions about its
quality, e.g. what are thestandard of quality of e-learning? How
quality of e-learning systems can be controlled? What quality
characteristics/factorsconstitute quality of an e-earning system?
It is important and a crucial challenge to find the answers of
questions regardingquality of e-learning.
On the other hand, beside widely acceptance and popularity
of e-learning, failures of e-learningsystems do exist. One of the
main reasonsof the failuresis that most of the e-learning systems
are not of the high quality (Masoumi and Lindström, 2012;
Information delivery in E-learning systems
Shahid Farid et al.
Information Discovery and Delivery
Volume 46 · Number 1 · 2018 · 1–25
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