E-Learning: Justifications and Obstacles

Abstract

many educational institutions have adopted ELearning system or are thinking to adopt it in their educational systems. As a nearly recent system, many do not know the exact meaning of E-Learning, or why should it be used? After using it, will the institution face any problems? And what are the best solutions for these problems? This paper aims to answer all the above questions. In addition, it discusses the ways to transform traditional learning systems to E-Learning, and how to measure the advantages of this transformation. Finally, the students' views of E-Learning show that they prefer e-learning over traditional system.

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E-LEARNING: JUSTIFICATIONS AND OBSTACLES
E-Learning: Justifications and Obstacles
http://dx.doi.org/ijet.v6i3.1610
A. H. Khoury, L. M. Nasir Eddeen, D. S. Saadeh, and O. K. Harfoushi
University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
Abstract—many educational institutions have adopted E-
Learning system or are thinking to adopt it in their educa-
tional systems. As a nearly recent system, many do not know
the exact meaning of E-Learning, or why should it be used?
After using it, will the institution face any problems? And
what are the best solutions for these problems? This paper
aims to answer all the above questions. In addition, it dis-
cusses the ways to transform traditional learning systems to
E-Learning, and how to measure the advantages of this
transformation. Finally, the students' views of E-Learning
show that they prefer e-learning over traditional system.
Index Terms—CBT, E-Learning, ROI, WBT.
I. INTRODUCTION
The world is considered now days as a small village,
full of information. Internet has succeeded to connect the
whole world. In past days, human culture didn't see such
connection and openness in information field. This has
affected our lives in different aspects, and contributed to
change the styles of our lives in unexpected way.
There are many factors that affect the traditional educa-
tion, for example the traditional learning lectures need
books or print outs, which are most of time very expensive
and some times not available.
The learning field is one of the fields that has been most
affected by this alternation. E-learning has become the
worldwide appearance in different aspects of learning and
training. This paper aims to summarize the main aspects
concerning E-Learning. This includes answering the fol-
lowing questions: What is E-learning? What is the role of
university environment in E-learning? Reasons for E-
learning are discussed, then the common mistakes in ap-
plication of E-learning are briefly discussed. After that,
the proposed ways to overcome disadvantages of E-
learning are listed, and to transform Traditional Learning
Systems to E-Learning. Finally, the ways to view Students
opinions in E-Learning are talked about.
II. E-LEARNING:
E-learning is a catch-all term that covers a wide range
of instructional material that can be delivered on a CD-
Rom or DVD, over a local area network (LAN), or on the
Internet. It includes Computer-Based Training (CBT),
Web-Based Training (WBT), Electronic Performance
Support Systems (EPSS), and distance or online learning
and online tutorials. There are some typical elements and
standard approach to developing or authoring E-learning
material.
E-learning has become the worldwide appearance in
different aspects of learning and training. There are many
distinguished forms of E-learning found on the Web in
many universities around world. For example (not exclud-
ing), Jones International University [4], The University of
Manchester [7], RMIT University [8] and University of
Phinox [5] are considered among leader universities in
providing well organized E-learning systems.
There is no official definition of E-learning. In this pa-
per, the most comprehensive definitions have been re-
ferred to. Al_Oweid and Al_Hamed define E-learning to
be "the learning that aims to find the interactive environ-
ment full of applications dependent on computer technol-
ogies and Web; it enables the student to reach the learn-
ing resources at any time and any place" [6].
While, Al_Mosa defines E-learning as "a learning
method that uses modern communication techniques, as a
computer, computer networks, searching engines, E-
libraries and multimedia as voice, image and graphics,
either during or after semester" [6].
According to Liyoshi [9], the history of education is a
narrative on opening up education. Recently, faculties,
students, and educational institutions have advanced edu-
cation in many ways using media and information com-
munication technologies. So, some new terms have ap-
peared like: Computer-Assisted Learning, Intelligent Tu-
toring Systems, Computer-Supported Collaborative Learn-
ing, interactive multimedia, telecommunications, and the
Internet. All of these forms of technology have not only
affected the Teaching-Learning process but have also ex-
tended educational chances.
Today, a convergence of events is creating the perfect
environment for significantly advanced education. With a
appearance of widely available educational tools and re-
sources, and with an increasingly connected community,
transformative opportunities for education grow. Now, we
see a large number of new initiatives with the potential to
totally change the ecology and the economics of educa-
tional process.
It means that different kinds of technology can be used
to transfer the information to the educator in shortest time,
least effort and maximum benefits.
III. REASONS FOR E-LEARNING:
Application of E-learning can be justified by the fol-
lowing reasons:
1. The major advantage to students is its easy ac-
cess: E-learning provides the student or learner with
information that can be accessed in a setting free
from time and place constrains. The student goes
through the lessons at his or her own place.
2. Increasing ability of communication: between
students, and between students and faculty members
through E-mails, discussion boards and conference
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rooms. All these push students to participate and in-
teract with the subject under study.
3. Contribution of students in different points of
view: conference rooms and forums give the oppor-
tunity to exchange points of view in different raised
subjects, which increases the utilization of the ideas
and presented suggestions which can be merged
with students' own ideas. This increases production
of strong base of knowledge for educator through
what he has gained of skills and knowledge through
discussion rooms.
4. Feeling of evenness: Since the communication tools
give every student chance to present his opinion any
time without embarrassment, in opposite to tradi-
tional lecture rooms in which student may feel un-
comfortable because of disorganization of room
seats, weakness in his voice, or any other reason. E-
learning gives full opportunity for each student to
share his/her ideas through sending them using
communication tools as E-mail or conference room.
This attribute is more beneficial for students who
feel shame, afraid or worried, and this technique
make students braver to express their thoughts. The
studies have proved that this kind of discussion en-
courages the students to confront.
5. Easiness in reaching lecturer or teacher: Using E-
learning it's easier to reach the teacher at any time,
even out of his working hours, since the student is
able to send his questions and inquires using E-mail.
This is also beneficiary to students whose working
hours conflict with teacher's office hours, or when
student has any questions which can't be postponed.
6. Ability to modify teaching method: The teacher is
able to present his subject in any way that is closer
and more proper for students. Some students prefer
visual type of presentation; others prefer it to be au-
dible or readable, others scientific. E-learning and
its sources has the ability to apply the sources in any
way and apply the best technique to be most effi-
cient for the beneficiary.
7. E-learning subjects are well-arranged: which
gives opportunity to focus on important thoughts
through gathering and writing the lecture. It also
gives the opportunity to the students that have diffi-
culties in focusing and organizing. E-learning sub-
jects are well-arranged and coordinated in easy and
neat way, with distinguished important elements.
8. Ability to repetition: This is additional characteris-
tic to all who learn in scientific way, by training. So
when then try to express their thoughts, they put
them in sentences, which means they repeat the in-
formation they practiced on, as when students study
for exam.
9. Ability to reach the curriculum any time: each
day of week, 24 hours a day. This is big opportunity
for all moody persons who like to study at day time
or night time and those who have personal responsi-
bilities. So E-learning enables every one to study
any time.
10. Reaching the curriculum on continuous pattern:
This characteristic makes the student stable, since he
can reach any information he needs any time. He is
not bound by the opening or closing hours of the li-
brary, which makes the student more comfortable
and stable.
11. Being independent on physical attendance: In
traditional education the student has to be commit-
ted with an actual schedule and he is forced to group
work. E-learning has offered the ability for the stu-
dent to participate the lecture without being physi-
cally there.
12. Easiness and variety to evaluate students' devel-
opment: The immediate evaluation tools offered to
the teacher a wide range of ways to build, organize
and distribute information to be easily and quickly
evaluated.
13. Taking highest benefits of time: Time saving is
very important for both sides; teacher and student.
Since the student is able to reach immediately the
information anytime and anywhere, so there is no
need to go to lecture rooms or libraries or teachers'
offices, which saves lots of time. The same is con-
sidered on teachers' side, who can send all students'
needs through immediate communication lines.
14. Reducing administration jobs for teachers: The
paper work, as gathering home works or checking
absence, takes a lot of teacher's time in traditional
working. E-learning has reduced all these jobs by
sending and receiving all of them using electronic
tools.
15. Reducing the volume of faculty administration
works: E-learning has presented the tools needed to
analyze the results and marks which can be immedi-
ately sent to the registrar.
IV. MISTAKES IN APPLICATION OF E-LEARNING:
Lack of planning, the absence of good vision and rash-
ness are the most important factors that lead to project
failure [9].
There are some mistakes that must be avoided, since
any of them can lead to the damage of E-learning project,
which is unacceptable since the main victim of E-learning
is the student.
The main mistakes can be summarized as follows:
 Taking the decision of application of E-learning by
the higher management, without sharing this decision
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with all sides that share this operation as dean, de-
partment president and educators themselves.
 Taking the decision without preparing the workers of
the educational foundation for the application of E-
learning, without convincing them of its importance
and necessity for the development of educational
process, and without defining the roles of workers
and training them on the new tools used.
 The lack of clear and precise planning that contains
project definition, goals, execution tools, application
stages and budget needed for each stage, and deter-
mining committees which will be responsible for ex-
ecution and maintenance of project.
 Concentration of the goals on material return or on
decreasing the burden on student, and ignoring stu-
dents' knowledge and scientific outcome.
 Application of E-learning on all subjects taught in
particular semester. There are some subjects for
whom E-learning process is unsuitable and applica-
tion of typical learning is more effective, especially
mathematical subjects that use symbols and need
solving problems.
 Inserting new additional technologies without usage
of the existing technologies in a proper way.
 Ensuring the best and most expensive software and
equipment without finishing the training process.
This means that the advantage taken from the soft-
ware and equipment will not be at maximum level.
 The lack of using assessment from time to time to
make sure that the goals are achieved properly.
V. DISADVANTAGES AND DEFECTS OF E-LEARNING:
The E-learning process depends on Internet, so to un-
derstand the disadvantages of E-learning, we have to real-
ize that Internet is a communication tool and it's an open
system that contains information from any source. Any
person can be owner of Internet site on which he can pub-
lish any kind of information correct or incorrect.
So since Internet is an open system, it can provide use-
ful information such as researches, on the other hand it
can provide other harmful information too.
The institutions that depend on E-learning have to be
aware that all information on that open system will be
available for the students.
The main disadvantages of E-learning are:
 Since the Internet contains correct and other incorrect
information, so the quality of the knowledge can be
affected.
 Lack of resources and technologies and infrastructure
for communication.
 Lack of teachers with high Internet experience.
 Students can easily reach any research or information
with less effort than manually, which makes the stu-
dents to get used to laziness.
 Opposition of society to E-learning thought.
 Lack of security.
VI. WAYS TO OVERCOME DISADVANTAGES OF E-
LEARNING:
The ways to overcome previously mentioned disad-
vantages are:
 Using methodical approach in instructional
authoring of E-Learning:
- Material should be clear and consistent.
- The user interface should be intuitive and
easy to navigate.
- There should be ongoing and purposeful in-
teraction with and by student.
- Real-world applications, exercises and ex-
amples are necessary.
- There must be an effective and systematic
assessment of student progress.
- Multimedia should be used primarily to ef-
fectively communicate content and moti-
vate learning.
 Reducing the total cost of using E-learning
technology: The used technology is expensive,
but on the other side it shouldn't be seen as so
expensive when used well to provide services.
All educational associations as schools and col-
lages should realize that without internet it will
be isolated from the outside world.
In the near future most students will be able to
study in one of schools or universities without
leaving home; in this case all the schools that
decided not to invest in Internet will be not able
to follow this program.
 Controlling the technology: Since all educa-
tional systems are characterized in controlling,
so it's possible to control everything attached to
E-learning as the resources and educational
quality and educational trust.
 Using unforgivable restricted policies about
educational trust and against everyone who
breaks the rules.
 Using restricted security policy: It's the ability
to recognize who is and who isn't allowed to
reach the information and necessity to obey this
policy using different ways as firewall which is
software to control Internet access.
 Teaching and training all educators: It's a
special training in using technology and Internet
besides training in teaching techniques and
methods.
 Convincing the community about the im-
portance of this technology: this also includes
convincing the community about technology's
ability to serve the community and to achieve
better future.
VII. TRANSFORMING TRADITIONAL LEARNING SYSTEMS TO
E-LEARNING
Any university management should see a measurable
return from the money spent on producing and delivering
E-Learning system. A wide spread measurement tool is
ROI. ROI stands for "Return on Investment", and it is used
to perform a comparison for the E-Learning system with
the standard classroom training. [2]. The ROI is calculated
by comparing the development cost of the E-Learning
with a measurement of increased productivity.
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Creating custom E-Learning courseware costs signifi-
cantly more than creating standard training, according to
many studies, for example as Ref. [16]. Using multimedia
in Web-based training can also increase the cost. Factors
in determining the cost per E-Learning page or screen
include writing the content, designing the page and adding
illustrations, and producing multimedia effects, if used.
But the time the student must spend being trained is re-
duced by about 40% using E-Learning. So, students learn
better with E-Learning. They remember what they learn
more accurately and longer (retention) and they are better
able to use what they learn to improve their performance
(transfer) [2].
Across many different studies and reports from the
military, education and industry show 15-25% increases
the learning achievement [3]. So according to Boggs [3], it
can be concluded that ROI for E-Learning can be 50%-
60% greater than the traditional training system.
The development of the online course required taking a
class offered by Faculty Instructional Technology Staff
(FITS) on how to create simple web pages with image
links using WebCT [11]. WebCT offers full online deliv-
ery capability including threaded discussions, student
websites, live chat rooms, and secure testing in any for-
mat. The development of online courses usually flows
from “web enhanced” on-ground classes to full develop-
ment of all course materials in online format. Issues asso-
ciated with this transition include: 1) factors to consider in
developing an online course; 2) mechanics of developing
an online course; 3) advantages and disadvantages of
teaching online; 4) online testing; 5) online grading; and
6) pedagogical and technical aspects of using the discus-
sion board, testing online, surveys, and group presenta-
tions [10].
Many associations have adopted the building and de-
veloping of Strategies to Transform Learning Systems.
As example, FuturEd [1], which is a consulting firm
based in Canada, since 1995.FuturEd provides a great
range of services related to all aspects of education and
training in the future across Canada and around the world.
According to FutureEd, it can do for any educational or-
ganization the main following services: it introduces the
organization to the future, connects it to Canada's educa-
tion and training community, links the organization to
international change initiatives, provides complete project
management, and finally meets the organization's research
and development needs.
VIII. STUDENT VIEWS OF E-LEARNING
Many studies have been developed to collect the opin-
ions of students regarding E-Learning to maintain an un-
derstanding of the views of students at many universities.
In order to do so, many surveys have been organized of a
sample of students who were taking courses that had an E-
learning environment. As these groups of students were
known to be using various forms of e-learning in their
courses, studies were a good place to begin a deeper ex-
ploration of their views, expectation and experiences. The
results then would give researchers a solid basis of evi-
dence about the student perspective to add and discuss the
issues involved in the implementation of e-learning sys-
tems. Many examples can be found in [11], [12], [13],
[14], and [15].
REFERENCES:
[1] K. Barker, "Quality Assurance and E-learning", March 5, 2002,
http://www.futured.com .
[2] R. Kurtus, "Return on Investment (ROI) From E-Learning", 2002,
http://www.school-for-champions.com/elearning/roi.htm
[3] D. Boggs, "E-Learning Benefits and ROI Comparison of E-
Learning vs. Traditional Training", June, 2004 , Whitepapers on
Web-Based Training Topics, https://www.syberworks.com/
[4] Jones International University website, http://www.jiu.edu/ .
[5] University of Phinox website, http://www.phoenix.edu/ .
[6] A. Al-Mousa, "E-Learning: Concepts, characteristics, Advantages,
Disabilities…", "School of Future" Symposium, King Saud Uni-
versity, 22-23/10/2002.
[7] University of Manchester website, www.manchester.ac.uk .
[8] RMIT University website, www.rmit.edu.au .
[9] T. Iiyoshi and M. S. Vijay Kumar, Opening Up Education: The
Collective Advancement of Education through Open Technology,
Open Content, and Open Knowledge, October, 2010. The MIT
Press Cambridge, Massachusetts, London, England. ISBN-10: 0-
262-51501-6.
[10] B. C. Rambo-Igney, "Online Learning: Ready or Not Here I
Come", 14th Annual Instructional Technology Conference, Mid-
dle Tennessee State University, USA, 2009.
[11] J. Haywood et el., "Student Views of E-Learning: A Survey of
University of Edinburgh WebCT Users 2004", Scottish Centre for
Research into On-Line Learning and Assessment, February, 2004.
[12] T. D. Lundgrenand, and K. S. Nant, "Student Attitudes toward
Internet Courses: A Longitudinal Study." Journal of Computer In-
formation Systems 43(3), 2003, pp. 61-66.
[13] K. S. Hong, "Relationships between students' and instructional
variables with satisfaction and learning from a Web-based
course." The Internet and Higher Education 5(3), 2002, pp. 267-
281. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1096-7516(02)00105-7
[14] T. D. Lundgren, and K. S. Nantz, "Student Attitudes toward Inter-
net Courses: A Longitudinal Study." Journal of Computer Infor-
mation Systems 43(3): 61-66. 2003.
[15] H. Macleod, et el. "Gender and Information and Communications
Technology – a 10 year study of new undergraduates",
Techtrends, 46(6) 11-15, Association for EducationalCommunica-
tions and Technology (AECT), 2002.
[16] D. Barker, "Canadian Recommended E-Learning Guidelines".
Vancouver: Future and Canadian Association for Community Ed-
ucation, 2002.
AUTHORS
A. H. Khoury is a teacher in Computer Science de-
partment in king's Abdullah II school for Information
Technology at University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
(11942) (e-mail: ansar@ju.edu.jo).
L. M. Nasir Eddeen is a teacher in Computer Science
department in king's Abdullah II school for Information
Technology at University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
(11942) (e-mail: Lubna@ju.edu.jo).
D. S. Saadeh was an instructor in Computer Science
department in king's Abdullah II school for Information
Technology at University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
(11942) (e-mail: doaa_saadah@yahoo.com).
O. K. Harfoushi is an assistant professor in Business
Information Systems department in king's Abdullah II
school for Information Technology at University of Jor-
dan, Amman, Jordan (11942) (e-mail:
o.Harfoushi@ju.edu.jo).
Received. Published as resubmitted by the authors August 2nd, 2011.
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