A Hierarchical Model to Evaluate the Quality of Web-Based E-Learning Systems

Abdul Hafeez Muhammad, Ansar Siddique, Ahmed E. Youssef, Kashif Saleem, Basit Shahzad, Adnan Akram and Al-Batool Saleh Al-Thnian
Additional contact information
Abdul Hafeez Muhammad: Department of Computer Sciences, Bahria University Lahore Campus, Punjab 54600, Pakistan
Ansar Siddique: Department of Software Engineering, University of Gujrat, Punjab 50700, Pakistan
Ahmed E. Youssef: College of Computer and Information Sciences (CCIS), King Saud University, Riyadh 11653, Saudi Arabia
Kashif Saleem: Center of Excellence in Information Assurance (CoEIA), King Saud University, Riyadh 12372, Saudi Arabia
Basit Shahzad: Department of Software Engineering, National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Adnan Akram: Department of Computer Sciences, Bahria University Lahore Campus, Punjab 54600, Pakistan
Al-Batool Saleh Al-Thnian: College of Computer and Information Sciences (CCIS), King Saud University, Riyadh 11653, Saudi Arabia

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 10, 1-23

Abstract: The rapid growth of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)—specifically, the Internet—has given emergence to e-learning. Resultantly, web-based e-learning systems are being increasingly developed to enhance the learning process. However, the utilization of such systems is low, mainly owing to poor quality content and overall design problems. To improve usage, it is imperative to identify the factors with the most significant impact on the quality of these systems so that the e-learning industry keeps these factors in consideration while developing e-learning systems. This study focused on the identification and prioritization of factors related to the design quality of e-learning systems through a hierarchical quality model. Thus, firstly, an extensive literature review was conducted to identify the factors that most affect the quality of web-based e-learning systems. Secondly, among the identified factors, only those with the most significant effect were considered. To identify the most important quality criteria, a survey was conducted. An instrument was deployed among 157 subjects, including e-learning designers, developers, students, teachers, and educational administrators. Finally, a second instrument was distributed among 51 participants to make a pairwise comparison among the criteria and rank them according to their relative importance. The identified and prioritized factors were classified into four main categories. Among these four factors, content was identified as the most important factor, whereas design was found to be the least important factor.

Keywords: analytical hierarchical process (AHP); content; e-learning; quality; usability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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