Evaluating the effectiveness of E-learning in a university

Computer assisted instruction and assessment is increasingly being adopted within the university sector to complement more traditional methods of teaching and learning. Much focus is often given to the advantages of exploiting technology, and the ability to store, manipulate and report data. However, teachers and trainers are increasingly aware that students and learners are beginning express concern about the time and effort required to achieve learning outcomes. This paper reviews these concerns, and presents the results of an attitudinal survey among a group of 143 engineering students that reveals their misgivings. Kendall's rank correlation was used to analyse the results. The paper continues by showing that through careful planning, design and implementation of on-line course success is possible, thus enabling full advantage of the benefits of available technologies to accrue. The paper concludes by arguing that learner feedback is essential when evaluating on-line instruction.