e-learning readiness - Asia Pacific Region - Open University Malaysia

According to the data in Table 8 which indicate the extent of financialreadiness in implementing E-learning, almost half of the institutions (48percent) have taken the initiative to provide computer loans which maybe an important factor in motivating employees to engage in E-learning.The majority, that is, 68.6 percent of the organisations, provide funds fortraining and conference participation related to E-learning. Although E-learning content plays a vital role in E-learning, only 50 percent of thepolicy makers appear to have allocated a budget for developing E-learning content, and even fewer (48 percent) have a budget for acquiringE-learning content.TABLE 8. Policy Makers’ Perceptions of Financial ReadinessDescriptionYesn(%)Non(%)Missingvaluen(%)Institution provides a 49 52 1computer loan to the (48.0) (51.0) (1.0)employeesInstitutions provides fundsfor employees to attendconferences and trainingon E-learningInstitution has allocated abudget to develop E-learning contentInstitution has allocated abudget to acquire E-learning content70(68.6)51(50.0)49(48.0)31(30.4)50(49.0)52(51.0)1(1.0)1(1.0)1(1.0)TotalN(%)102(100)102(100)102(100)102(100)The survey also identified factors hindering organisations fromexpanding their E-learning potential. The data in Table 9 indicate thatalmost half of the policy makers attribute the low rate of expansion tohigh initial investments (47.1 percent) and poor infrastructure (44.1percent) while the rest of the policy makers apparently do not view thesefactors to be hindrances. Although initial investment does not seem to bea major problem, more than half of the organisations find maintenance tobe more difficult, as 57.8 percent of them identify high operating costs as afactor, thus making the heavy investment required in meeting operationalcosts the biggest impeding factor. About the same number of policymakers (56.8 percent) lament a lack of support in developing appropriatepedagogical content. Similar views were noted in the policy makers’responses to the open-ended questionnaire items: they expressed aconcern over the lack of quality-regulated content, training and technicalsupport as well as the absence of clear guidelines and policies. It isencouraging to note that the lack of belief in the necessity for E-learning isnot a hindrance, since as many as 80.4 percent of the policy makers do notfind it to be a factor.Joint Study by MEWC and OUM 20