EJEL
Volume 7 Issue 1
May 2009

e-Learning Indicators: a Multi-dimensional Model for Planning and Evaluating e-Learning Software Solutions

Bekim Fetaji and Majlinda Fetaji
South East European University, Tetovo, Macedonia

A number of recent studies suggest applications of networked computers in education have very inconsistent results ranging from success stories to complete failures. Literally thousands of e-learning projects have been carried out that greatly differ in their outcomes. Until now, however, there has been no systematic or standardized way of planning, comparing and evaluating e-learning projects, their outcomes, and their effectiveness. Therefore, the main objective of this research was an investigation of possible approaches to systematic planning, development and evaluation of e-learning initiatives and their corresponding e-learning projects. The result of this work is a multidimensional model of e-learning Indicators that are defined as the important concepts and factors that are used to communicate information about the level of e-learning and used to make management decisions when planning e-learning strategy. The lack of knowledge of the learner audience as well as of the factors influencing that audience and e-learning projects overall results in failing to provide satisfactory support in the decision making process. In order to address this issue, an approach dealing with e-learning indicators is proposed. Having a standardised guide of e-learning indicators accepted by the scientific community enables comparison and evaluation of different initiatives regarding e-learning in a standardised manner. The proposed e-learning Indicators Methodology enables successful planning, comparison and evaluation of different e-learning projects. It represents an empirical methodology that gives concrete results expressed through numbers that can be analysed and later used to compare and conclude e-learning efficiency. A practical value of this approach is analyzed in the realized comparative analysis of two different institutions using different LMS tools: Angel and Moodle focusing on comparison and evaluation of e-learning indicators of these two e-learning projects. The application of this methodology in e-learning projects it is more likely to achieve better results and higher efficiency as well as higher Return on Investment-ROI.

Keywords: e-learning indicators, evaluation of effectiveness, learning outcomes

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