Identification and ranking of the key success factors of e-learning from the Persian language instructors’ perspective

Abstract

Background and Objective:In general, the purpose of e-learning is to provide equal, free and searchable access to courses and to create a uniform learning environment for different people everywhere and to optimize the presentation of course materials for deeper learning. In such an educational environment, unlike traditional (teacher-centered) teaching methods, people benefit from the subjects to the extent of their capacity and ability. In e-learning, it is possible to achieve maximum productivity in education by combining different methods of presenting educational content such as text, audio and video, etc. Virtual education utilizes the capacity of computer networks, Internet technologies, satellite networks, and new digital sciences. In fact, the art of using network technologies is to design, select, transform, and manage the educational process. The purpose of this study was to investigate, identify, and rank the most important key factors in the success of the Persian language e-learning course in universities (Al-Mustafa society and Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin). Methods: This is an applied research in terms of the purpose, descriptive in terms of the method of data collection and cross-sectional study. The statistical population of this study was 60 Persian language instructors who taught at least one full term using the E-learning system. The main instrument for data collecting was a researcher-made questionnaire based on the Likert scale of 5 scales. Findings: The results of the research showed that the factor of content was considered as the first priority, technology as the second, students as the third priority, the organizational factor as the forth one, and the last priority was the general issue. In the study of the organizational factors, the educational- management strategies in organization gained the highest amount of 12.32, the highest percentage of variance 32.08 and the highest coefficient of reliability of 0.875, among the factors of student, the sub-factor trust, adaption and response to the needs with the special value of 8.094 and the variance of 27.93 was the most important sub-factor. Also, in determining the factors of content, the factors affecting content production with a specific amount of 5.314, indicated the highest percentage 42.151 of the total variance related to the factors of content. The applicability of technology with a specific value of 6.07 and 36.54 percent of the total variance was the most important sub-factor of the factor of technology. The leadership and strategic factors with the specific value of 10.404 and 26.035 percent of the total variance proved to be the most important sub-factor in general factors. Conclusion: Based on the set of attitudes of success factors in the use of e-learning in higher education centers, this study aims to prioritize these factors in teaching Persian to foreigners. In this research, these two questions have been answered: What are the key factors of success in using the Persian language virtual education system as a second/foreign language from the perspective of teachers of these courses? And what is the priority and importance of these key success factors identified in the education system of the country's universities? In response to the first question, the findings show that from the perspective of teachers of Persian language e-learning courses to foreigners, the content factor ranks first, the technology factor ranks the second, the student factor ranks third, and the general factor is the last after the organizational factor. Also, in answer to the second question, each of these factors has several sub-factors. ===================================================================================== COPYRIGHTS ©2019 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers. =====================================================================================