Critical success factors for on-line course resources

doi:10.1016/S0360-1315(00)00044-0

Computers & Education

Volume 36, Issue 2, February 2001, Pages 101-120

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0360-1315(00)00044-0 Get rights and content

Abstract

A multiple case study was used to evaluate hypotheses on the critical success factors for on-line course resources in a tertiary setting. The evolution of educational media and methods leading up to the usage of such resources are also briefly discussed. The findings show that in order for on-line course resources (such as discussion forums) to be used (as compared to implemented) successfully, the critical factors that need to be considered are: human factors pertaining to the instructors; the instructors' and students' technical competency; the instructors' and students' mindset (about learning); the level of collaboration intrinsic in the course; and the level of perceived IT infrastructure and technical support.

The study shows that it is essential for all these factors to be considered in a holistic fashion; the inadequacy of even one of these factors would have an immensely detrimental affect on the overall success of the on-line resource. Any institution intending to invest in such resources or any instructor wishing to use such resources should deliberate these factors holistically.

Introduction

The form and structure of teaching and learning today have been changing due to the rapid advancements in technology and communications.

Changes in the global economy and advancements in communications and technology have a big impact on society. Looking more specifically at universities, Le Grew (1995) constructed a “paradigm shift” table to show the transformation necessary in tertiary institutions in order to keep up with this change. The shifts relevant to on-line course resources are as follows.

Since knowledge and information is the basis of economic growth, societies that successfully harness information technology into the learning process will prosper in the 21st century (Bates, 1995).

By having a multimedia-centric (enabled by technology peripherals) focus on education, the participant's learning experience is greatly enhanced with text, video, sound and images. This makes a more fruitful and worthwhile learning experience.

Universities are beginning to look at students as their customers (Santosus, 1997). Taking such a stand, education provision should be learner-centric.

Given the exponential growth of the Internet, it is estimated that everyone in the whole world will be connected by the year 2003 (Smith, 1996). This has enabled the Internet to be deemed the communications media of the future. Fig. 1 depicts the various components of an IT infrastructure that enables Le Grew's (1995) “paradigm-shift”.

Video-conferencing allows for interaction and discussion among participants without the need to be physically present at a particular location. This breaks down the location barrier and hence facilitates distance learning (Jackson, 1998).

Electronic mail (e-mail) is faster and cheaper than traditional forms of communications such as telex, fax, phone or postal-mail. It also facilitates distance learning. Likewise, news-groups and on-line chat discussion services allow for quick and cheap interaction between participants regardless of physical location.

With the myriad of knowledge-based databases all throughout the world, the Internet can allow us to quickly and cheaply obtain any information from any source. For example, many magazines publish their articles on-line, thereby allowing access to Internet users.

Given that Java is operating system independent, then, ideally, code written in Java can be executed on any machine. In addition, given the rapid, world-wide spread in recent times of the TCP/IP cross-platform protocol upon which the Internet is based, data and application sharing is easier across firms, homes and other computer sites.

As computer-media storage increases while the cost decreases, it becomes very economical to store and manipulate data via electronic means. As the communication bandwidth increases, it becomes possible to have a few (central) repositories where information is kept, and instantly downloaded whenever needed.

All these technologies enable learning to be on-demand, i.e. independent of time and place, and available at all stages of a person's life.

Almost every major university has implemented some sort of an on-line learning environment, thereby harnessing the ubiquitous anytime, anywhere access of the Internet. For example in Singapore, the National University of Singapore has its Integrated Virtual Learning Environment (for a case study on IVLE, see Microsoft CSL, 1999), while Nanyang Technological University has its TopClass-OLS. These on-line learning environments comprise of on-line course resources such as Course Materials (with support for video and audio embedded within the web-page), threaded Discussion Forums, and multi-choice Tests and Quizzes.

Section snippets

Research question

The main focus of this research was to:

•
Identify the critical success factors for successful usage of on-line course resources.
•
Identify the practical implications resulting from them.

Based on this, institutions and instructors will be provided with a set of criteria to consider before investing in such resources/software.

We define an on-line course resource to be successful when:

•
Students use, and enjoy using the resource.
•
Students find the resource enriching and helpful.
•
Educators find that the

Literature review and study propositions

The implementation of on-line course resources is costly in both monetary (Glennan & Melmed, 1996) and time/effort (Owston, 1997) terms. As such, the benefits that such resources bring must outweigh these hefty investments.

There have been numerous and varied studies describing successful implementations, as well as the necessary pre-requisites in order to realise the benefits of such resources. The points below list the major research factors and hence the literature review is based on these

Cross-case analysis

Table 4 summarizes the contrasting factors for the three cases, highlighting the critical changes over the duration of the semester.

From the analysis of Module A, the chain of evidence points to the fact that when:

(1) the time and effort put into the resources by the instructors were low, and
(2) there were perceived infrastructural problems and a lack of technical support,

then the on-line course resources would not be used successfully. This was despite the fact that:

(1) the instructor and

Research findings and the technology acceptance model

A commonly used theory on technology acceptance and usage is the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (see Davis, 1986, Davis, Bagozzi and Warshaw, 1989). The essence of TAM is that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use have the ability to predict an individual's computer system acceptance behaviour. These constructs are considered predictors of a prospective user's intention to use the system, and / or actual system usage.

This study's findings tie in well with the TAM model. As evident

Conclusion

This study has verified that the critical success factors for on-line course resources are,

(1) Human factors:
- (i) adequate time and effort must be invested into the resources by the instructors
- (ii) the instructors must have motivational skills, and should constantly urge the students to use these resources, especially at the beginning.
(2) Technical competency:
- (i) both the instructors and students must be IT savvy
(3) Mindset (about learning):
- (i) both the instructors and students should have a

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the participating course instructors and students for their time and input into the study. We would also like to thank the reviewers for their comments.

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