Abstract
The South African public sector is faced with many challenges and one of the major challenges is service delivery. This is linked with skills shortage resulting in public service having too many people to train in a short period of time. Training these many employees face-to-face has its challenges, as employees have to be away from their day-to-day duties to attend training and this not only has an impact on productivity, but also maximizes costs. To deal with and to minimize these challenges, the South African government has chosen to introduce e-Learning in public sector. This is aimed at ensuring that larger numbers of government officials are trained at minimum costs and ensuring that training reaches people with different responsibilities such as top management and people with families who cannot afford to be away from home or office for training for long periods of time. This study examined the advantages and disadvantages of the introduction of e-Learning in the public sector, the importance of strategic planning for e-Learning, the challenges faced by the public sector when it comes to training, how other organizations internationally have conceptualized e-Learning and what the public sector is hoping to achieve by introducing e-Learning. The gaps in the conceptualization of e-Learning in the South African public sector were identified and possible solutions including a paradigm shift from a reductionist way of thinking to a systems way of thinking and doing things was recommended. Keywords: e-Learning, public sector, benchmarking, conceptualization. JEL Classification: H83, A2, G21
Highlights
The application of electronically-based technology is advancing dramatically and will increasingly impact our lives
The purpose of this study is to focus on the conceptualization of e-Learning in the South African public sector
Data were collected from interviews with several participants from Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), the National School of Government (NSG), Gauteng City Region Academy (GCRA) and provincial government of the Western Cape who were involved in the conceptualization of e-Learning in the South African public sector, in order to get a broader understanding of the topic
Summary
The application of electronically-based technology is advancing dramatically and will increasingly impact our lives. The public sector uses technology in order to deal with multiple challenges faced at local and international levels. These challenges include service delivery at various stages within our communities to improve the quality of life and to improve productivity through empowering employees with the required skills. Electronic learning (e-Learning) is viewed as the cheapest and most effective way in which organizations in the public sector provide their employees with continuous learning opportunities to improve organizational outcomes The purpose of this study is to focus on the conceptualization of e-Learning in the South African public sector. This includes identifying and understanding how the concept of e-Learning in the South African public sector came about and what processes were followed in conceptualizing e-Learning
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
