Evaluating the Qualities of Virtual Websites of the Medical Science Universities

Current approach to the education is open learning. Universities in line with the new technologies tend to provide distance and semi-distance education and they are engaged in e-learning through setting up websites. Analyzing the existing data in intended websites can be beneficial in improving distance education and e-learning. The aim of this study was to evaluate the qualities of virtual websites of medical science universities in the world. In this descriptive qualitative and quantitative study, 40 web sites of medical science universities were evaluated through website quality evaluating tools (Cronbach's alpha = 0.95). “Specific purpose for data range” and “audiences and websites goal” were in excellent conditions. Also, “ease of searching”, “graphic”, “updating”, “internal links”, writer’s academic background”, “stability of the structure”, and “speed of website loading” were in good conditions. The findings of this study can be used by medical science university website managers to improve the quality of the related websites.