E-learning System Success: Challenges of Mainstreaming E-learning in Zimbabwe
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61538/jipe.v4i1.234Abstract
 As the e-learning system promises a new way of delivering education, the need to ensure e-learning system success becomes imperative. However, after 65% of the students failed to voluntarily register for an elearning blended programme, in three universities, this research set out to find the challenges of mainstreaming e-learning in the Zimbabwean context. This was a survey of a purposive sample of 60 students and 54 university lecturers from three universities who are part-time tutors of the Zimbabwe Open University. The study found out that the divisive vectors of race and inequality appear to re-emerge via technology which is at best stagnating and at worst putting minorities at the margins owing to the dilapidated infrastructure, the digital divide that characterize students in the universities under study, lack of teacher competencies, and challenges of accessing electronic materials. In such instance, e-learning was seen as the monster under the bed and technology adoption acceptance is grossly affected. In this study, historical, technological, social, political and economic challenges appeared to be inextricably linked. Thus the research recommend the need to enable the technological possibility for students to be masters of their own destiny by changing the way they live, work, organise, communicate and interact.References
Aboelmaged, M. G.(2010). Predicting e-procurement adoption in a developing country, an empirical integration of technology acceptance model and theory of planned behavior. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 110 (3), 392- 414
Asare, K. A., Alejandro, T. G. B., Granot, E. & Kashyap, V. (2011). The role of channel orientation in B2B technology adoption. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 26 (3),193–201.
Asselin, M. (2007). Learning to learn: an examination of instructional support during a grade 9 research project, Studies in Media and Information Literacy Education,
, 1-18.
Asselin, M. & Doiron, R. (2008). Towards a transformative pedagogy for school libraries 2.0, School Libraries Worldwide, 14(2) 1-18.
Brown, C. & Czerniewicz, L.(2007) Trends in student use of ICTs in higher education in South Africa. Paper presented at the 10th Annual Conference on the World Wide Web Applications, University of Cape Town, Cape Town
Bruner, G. C. II and Kumar, A. (2007). Explaining consumer acceptance of handheld internet devices, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 58 No. 5, pp. 553-8. 2005 Casey, M. & Savastinuk, L. Library 2.0: A Guide to Participatory Library Service, Information Today Press, Medford, NJ.
Chiome, C. (2011). Revisiting quality in Open and Distance Learning: A Southern
African perspective. LAP Lambert Academic Publishers: Saarbrucken,
Germany.
Chiome, C. & Kurasha, P. (2011). Quality for e-learning: Some useful lessons. LAP Lambert Academic Publishers: Saarbrucken, Germany.
CNNIC (2010). 26th Statistical Survey Report on the Internet Development in China, China Internet Network Information Center, Beijing, available at: www.cnnic.cn.
Davis, F. D., Bagozzi, R. P. & Warshaw, P. R. (1989). User acceptance of computer technology: a comparison of two theoretical models. Management Science, 35(8), 982-1003.
Doiron, R. & Asselin, M. (2011). Exploring a new learning landscape in tertiary education. New Library World, 112(5-6), 222-235)
Granot, E., (2006). Revealing Victoria’s secret: a hermeneutic exploration of female new luxury consumers. PhD dissertation, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA.
Hume, M. (2008). Understanding core and peripheral service quality in customer repurchase of the performing arts. Managing Service Quality, 18(4)349-369 Kim, J. H., Kim, M. & Kandampully, J. (2009), Buying environment characteristics in the context of e-service, European Journal of Marketing, 43(9/10), 1188-1204 Kim, S. & Stoel, L.(2004). Dimensional hierarchy of retail website quality. Information and Management. 41(5)619-633
Latham, D. & Gross, M., Broken (2009). Undergraduates look back on their experiences with information literacy in K-12 education, Retrieved from www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslpubsandjournals/slmrb/slmrcontents/volu me11/lathamgross.cfm
Lee, Y. (2006). An empirical investigation into factors influencing the adoption of an e-learning system. Online Information Review 30(5) 517-541
Lee, C. H., Eze, U. C. & Ndubisi, N. O. (2011). Analyzing key determinants of online repurchase intentions Asia Pacific. Journal of Marketing and Logistics 23(2)
-221
McHugh, J. (October, 2005). Connecting to the twenty-first century student. Edutopia Magazine. Retrieved from www.edutopia.org/ikid-digital-learner.
Monsuwe, T. P. Y., Dellaert, B. G. C. & Ruyter, K. D.(2004). What drives consumers to shop online? A literature reviewâ€, International Journal of Service Industry Management, 15(1), 102-21.
Mutula, S. M. (2011). Ethics and trust in digital scholarship The Electronic Library. 29(2), 261-276
Neely, W. P. & Tucker, J. P. (2010). Unbundling faculty roles in an on line distance education programmes. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning. 11(2), 1-13
O‟Brien, L., (2005). E-research: an imperative for strengthening institutional partnerships, EDUCAUSE Review, 40(6), 64-77
O‟Really, T., (2005) Web 2.0: compact definition. Retrieved on 29 September 2008
from
http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2005/10/web_20_compact_definition.html Pandit, N. R. (1996). The creation of theory: a recent application of the grounded theory methodâ€, The Qualitative Report, (2)4,107-26.
Park, C. & Jun, J. ( 2003). A cross-cultural comparison of internet buying behavior: effects of internet usage, perceived risks, and innovativeness, International Marketing Review, 20(5), 534-53.
Pienaar, H. (2008), Development and implementation of an e-Information strategy for an academic library. Paper presented at Libraries and Information Management Forum 2008, Sandton, Johannesburg, 21-22 August.
Pitkow, J. E. & Kehoe C. M. (1996). Emerging trends in the WWW user population, Communications of the ACM 39 (6), 106–108
Rossman, G. B. & Rallis, S. F. (2003). Learning in the field: An introduction to qualitative research (2nd ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Rye, S. A. & Zubaidah, I. (2008). Distance education and the complexity of accessing the Internets, Open Learning: The Journal of Open and Distance Learning, 23(2), 95-102
Seidman, I.(1998). Interviewing as qualitative research: A guide for researchers in education and the social sciences. New York, NY: Teachers College Press, Sharma, K. (2011). Critical success factors in crafting strategic architecture for e learning at H. P. University. London: Emerald group Publishing.
Strauss, A. & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory, Procedures and Techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage
Tong, X.(2010). A cross-national investigation of an extended technology acceptance model in the online shopping context. International Journal of Retail and
Distribution Management 38(10) 742-759
UNESCO (2008).Ethical issues of information society. Retrieved on 26 July 2008 from www.unesco.org/webworld/en/ethic-information-society
Vaughan, K. & MacVicar, A (2004). Employees‟ pre-implementation attitudes and perceptions to E-Learning: A banking case study analysis. Journal of European Industrial Training. 28(5), 400-413
Widmer, L Mainstreaming e-learning in education. Paper presented at the conference on mainstreaming e-learning in EU member countries. Brussels: 16-17 June 2011. Retrieved from: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/events/cf/ daa11/item-display.cfm?id=5989 2011
Youngman, F.(2007), paper presented at Digital Scholarship Conference, Gaborone, University of Botswana Library, 12-13 December. 2007
Zhou, T.(2011). The impact of privacy concern on user adoption of location-based Services. Industrial Management & Data Systems. 111(2) 212-226.
