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Latefa Bin Fryan and Lampros Stergioulas<br />

adopting eLearning in educational institutions compared to other developing countries; however, the<br />

transformation process is quite rapid in order to achieve the goal of technology-enhanced <strong>learning</strong>.<br />

KSA educational institutions seem to believe strongly that eLearning will help to solve education<br />

issues resulting from rapid population growth and the technology-intensive demands of the future;<br />

moreover, eLearning will facilitate and support distance <strong>learning</strong> which is very common in KSA<br />

universities.<br />

8. Future research and development<br />

For future research, the number of participant and educational institutions can be increased for<br />

extensible research which will help to investigate more CSFs from different perspectives.<br />

Some universities in KSA are already undergoing the process of implementing the eLearning system<br />

and they are using student feedbacks as an essential resource to determine the ongoing quality and<br />

to ensure improvement and refinement of the eLearning system. Considering this positive trend of<br />

eLearning adoption in KSA educational institutions, findings from this research can prove to be a<br />

significant tool for future enhancement and implementation of the eLearning systems in KSA.<br />

9. Conclusion<br />

eLearning adoption in KSA educational institutions has been considered as a huge and major<br />

transformation from traditional educational system. Although the significance of eLearning cannot be<br />

denied and its impact on the improvement of the traditional educational system is well-recognised,<br />

there are still gaps in the adoption of eLearning due to the lack of understanding about the CSFs for<br />

eLearning adoption. In order to fully realise the potential of eLearning and understand the challenges<br />

in the adoption of eLearning, it is imperative to identify the CSF that affect adoption of eLearning in<br />

KSA educational institutions.<br />

For this purpose, the existing literature was thoroughly reviewed for identifying the CSFs for<br />

eLearning adoption and important issues were explored. It was obvious that limited research has<br />

been conducted in this area and a clear gap was identified through the literature reviewed, which led<br />

to the need for investigating the CSFs for eLearning adoption. There are two perspectives to the<br />

adoption of eLearning: students’ perspective and education providers’ (or teaching staff) perspective.<br />

It was indicated through the existing literature that only some studies consider both perspectives and<br />

are limited in terms of the comprehensiveness of the CSFs identified. Since, considering both<br />

perspectives is imperative while adopting and implementing eLearning, therefore this research<br />

considers both of them.<br />

The primary data was collected through conducting semi-structured interviews and survey<br />

questionnaires in order to extract the CSFs for the adoption of eLearning in KSA. For this purpose,<br />

FIVE different KSA educational institutions including universities and eLearning training centres were<br />

considered. The participants were chosen according to their related jobs in the area of eLearning in<br />

KSA to ensure high quality consistent findings. . The interpretive, qualitative data analysis methods are<br />

used, and findings are presented in tables and figures. Findings show that of the total 52 CSFs<br />

identified, 25% were highlighted only through interviews and survey questionnaires and were not<br />

found in the existing literature.<br />

References<br />

Abouchedid, K. & Eid, G. (2004),'eLearning challenges in the Arab world; revelations from a case study profile',<br />

Quality Assurance in Education, 21(1) pp. 15-27.<br />

Alcock, M. (2007),' Rapid eLearning software: what should we be looking for?', development and <strong>learning</strong> in<br />

organizations , 21(6) pp. 15-17.<br />

Al-Faisal, L. Al-Hakami, A. & Al-Sabti, K. (2010). Education: Saudi Arabia’s Commitment to its Future. U.S.-Saudi<br />

Business Opportunities Forum, Chicago, Illinois. Available online: http://www.ussabc.org/i4a/pages/Index.cfm?pageID=3799<br />

[last access 2010-11-03]<br />

Al-Jaghoub, S. et al. (2009), 'eLearning adoption in higher education in Jordon: vision, reality and change'<br />

European and Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems, Izmir<br />

AME Info Website, 2009 http://www.ameinfo.com/219649.html [last access 2010-11-02]<br />

Banyard, P. and Underwood, J. (2008). Understanding the <strong>learning</strong> space. eLearning Papers (9): 1-12. ISSN<br />

1887-1542<br />

Bell, J. (2007),'Feature articles ELearning: your flexible development friend?', development and <strong>learning</strong> in<br />

organizations, 21(6) pp. 7-9.<br />

71

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