The Evaluation of Core Websites of National and International Virtual Universities

E-learning is the current educational approach in reputed international universities. In line with the new technologies, universities tend to provide distance and semi-distance education and they are engaged in e-learning through launching websites. We aimed to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate core websites of virtual universities of the world based on the quality evaluation tool. In this descriptive qualitative and quantitative study, 27 websites have been studied using the website quality evaluation tool during August 2012. Cronbach's alpha was 0.92. SPSS software, version 16, was used for data analyses. The specific purpose for the data range in all websites was very good. Also the users and goals of websites and structure stability were in a good condition. On the other left ease of search facilities, internal links and graphics were in an average condition. The virtual universities of Ebilin, Vanderbilt, and E-Learning Center of Tehran University ranked first to third. The findings of this study can be used by university website managers to improve the quality of the related websites.