Examining the External Effectiveness Components of E-Learning to Provide a Framework for Developing Qualitative Change in Higher Education

Improving and enhancing the quality and effectiveness of e-learning in the universities require examining and recognizing the internal and external factors affecting it. To this end, certain models and frameworks have been developed to evaluate the effectiveness of the e-learning system. However, the diversity of the dimensions of the effectiveness system in the literature and the multiplicity of the models not only implies a theoretical gap in this area but also it has challenged the operational and technical scopes of the issues. The purpose of this qualitative study is investigating and analyzing the external effectiveness components of e-learning in order to make a qualitative change in higher education system.

In this study, it was attempted to thoroughly identify the components of evaluating the effectiveness of academic e-courses with a qualitative approach.  The research method is qualitative, and in particular "qualitative case study”. Thus, the potential contributors to this study included all faculty members of Virtual Colleges of Shiraz Universities, Payam Noor, and Allameh Tabatabai University virtual education instructors and a number of content development specialists and educational designers (n = 25) who were selected based on purposeful sampling in terms of  criteria (expertise and experience) and considering data saturation, In line with the aforementioned purpose, an interview was conducted with 25 experts in this field. Then, the obtained data were analyzed through the content analysis technique.

In order to achieve this, by studying the models of  blended and  related exploratory learning and interviewing the experts and skillful professors of this field and analyzing the data extracted from such interviews, reviewing the documents, theoretical foundations, and research backgrounds of e-learning in the  universities of the developed countries and Iran, the researcher has highlighted the influence that external effective evaluation components have on e-learning as an organizing content including twelve major themes with the following titles to be significant and necessary in the education system: economizing and increasing  productivity; the dynamics and flexibility  related to the new educational developments and technologies; cultivation of organizational e-learning; competitiveness of the products; training and employment of human resources specialized in e-learning; identifying and responding to environmental needs; lifelong learning; realization of patterns of competence; realizing the goals and excellence of the beneficiary organization; promotion of professional capabilities in the workplace; strengthening technical and vocational education; and success, effectiveness, and competitiveness of the learners. The results were validated using data matching method, the validity, the reliability and reliability of the research data. In the next step, the researcher used content validity index (CVI) to determine the relevance and necessity of themes and the extracted organizing theme. The validity and reliability criteria were used to validate the framework. Four criteria for adaptation, intelligibility, generalizability and control were used to determine the acceptability of the proposed framework. Certainly, knowledge of these components can be necessary and reliable in properly evaluating the overall effectiveness of the e-learning courses.

After summing up the findings of this study, it is shown that evaluating the effectiveness of e-learning is a comprehensive cycle that is not just limited to evaluating the effectiveness of what is done within the e-learning system. Rather, it should be seen whether the e-learning system has been able to respond to the needs of the society and to fulfill the mission intended for the organization or not. In this study, 12 components were identified to evaluate the external effectiveness of the university e-learning system, and the study and evaluation of each of these components can indicate different dimensions of the external effectiveness of e-learning. Also, the interaction between external and internal levels of e-learning effectiveness and the interaction between the two levels were investigated and analyzed. The limitations of the present study were that the findings were not collected in the field and in the operational scene, and that there were no similar comprehensive samples to be further compared and studied.