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

According to a respondent, one of the reasons for the reluctance to investin E-learning (systems, human resource and so forth) is the lack ofjustification on the returns of investment. In sum, insufficient funds wereperceived to be one of the factors that hindered the execution of E-learning.TABLE 25. Providers’ Perceptions of Financial ReadinessDescriptionYesn(%)Non(%)Missingvaluen(%)Institution have allocated 27 48 0adequate funding for E- (36.0) (64.0) (0.0)learningInstitutions have plans toallocate Funding for E-learning40(53.3)16(21.3)19(25.3)TotalN(%)75(100.0)75(100.0)Factors that Hinder E-Learning ExpansionWhen asked about factors that hinder their organisations from goingfurther into E-learning in a bigger way or for expanding further, E-learning providers indicated a range of opinions. There was an almost 50-50 split in the group’s perception on whether high initial investmentshindered into E-learning in a greater scale. There were 52 percent (39respondents) who agreed to this factor, and the remaining 48 percent (36respondents) disagreed. On high operating costs, 54.7 percent (41respondents) did not agree that this factor hindered their organisation’sdirections in E-learning, while the remaining 44 percent (33 respondents)agreed that it did. When looking at infrastructure issues, 54.7 percent (41respondents) disagreed that poor infrastructure caused their organisationsto go into E-learning to a larger extent. However, the other half of thegroup (45.3 percent, or 34 respondents) agreed with this factor. In termsof content, or the lack of it, 72 percent of the group (54 respondents)disagreed that the lack of content held up plans to increase E-learninginitiatives.Only 28 percent (21 respondents) agreed that the lack of content wasaffecting the expansion of their E-learning initiatives. The rest of therespondents, 72 percent (54 respondents) thought that the contentsavailable were adequate. This suggests that the providers were confidentof the quantity of content offered to receivers.A majority, that is, 88 percent (66 respondents) indicated that they did notagree that their organisations were not reluctant to expand their E-learning plans, but there wasn’t any necessity for E-learning. There wereabout 88.2 percent (58 respondents) disagreed on factors other than thosecategorized in the survey, and the remaining 10.8 percent (17Joint Study by MEWC and OUM 40