Exploring the Research Methods Employed for Investigating Current Challenges in E-learning Adoption in Universities: A Short Literature Review.

Abstract

E-learning adoption in universities is a very challenging field of Information Systems that consist of the adoption challenges at two levels – user level and institutional level. Various higher institutions of learning have come to terms with the eminent need for change in order to allow for a successful integration and impact of technology in education. The ability to cope with these changes, right from pre-to-post e-learning adoption, has been a major challenge for management of various higher education institutions (HEIs). This paper aims at revisiting the various Information Systems (IS) approaches previously employed by several studies for investigating the challenges in adopting these e-learning technologies from the user level to the institutional level in Universities, with the aim of identifying the gap between theory and practice in addressing these challenges. The review considered 13 international conference academic papers and 52 journal articles sourced from high ranked international journals in the relevant field of study, validated through a multi-step manual cross-checking based on carefully selected extraction and quality criteria. The results indicate that 37% of the reviewed papers employed the use of quantitative approach while 29% used qualitative method in their study on the current challenges faced in e-learning adoption by universities. This implies that there is a growing interest in the use of qualitative approach for research in the field of IS even though quantitative methods are still slightly dominant in this IS domain. Based on the review findings, there is a need for both practitioners and researchers to appreciate the differences between methodologies and their varying applicability. The study concludes that IS practitioners and researchers should come together to clearly redefine the scope of IS methodologies.