E-Learning Annotated Bibliography

Selim, H. M. (2007). Critical success factors for e-learning acceptance: Confirmatory factor models. Computers & Education, 49(2), 396-413.

The purpose of Selim (2007) is to find the critical success factors of e-learning by as perceived by university students. Using published literature this paper surveyed the critical success factors of e-learning and grouped them into four categories i.e. instructor, students, information technology, and university support. This categorization was tested by collecting data from 538 sampled students through a structured questionnaire.

The results of this study revealed 8 categories of critical success factors. Each of the category then in turn included further critical acceptance and success measures. Level of criticality was measured by validity coefficient of the factor. The authors emphasized to expand on this research to develop a causal structural equation model based on all 8 constructs found by this study.

Brown, R. E. (2001). The process of community-building in distance learning classes. Journal of asynchronous learning networks, 5(2), 18-35.

Brown (2001) used grounded theory design incorporated archived class inputs, and interviews data from twenty-one students and three faculty members from three different graduate level distance learning courses to develop a theory about the process of community formation in adult asynchronous distance learning classes.

The study determined a three stage process. In the first stage, students make online friends with whom they felt comfortable in communication. In the second stage, students develop acceptance for the online community where they had been having long, thoughtful, threaded discussion on the subjects of interest and importance which gave them personal satisfaction and association. The last stage is that of companionship which comes after long term and intense association with others and involves personal communication. This study is very significant the area of e-learning research as it provides a visual model of the entire process of building community at an advance level.