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E-Learning is a Social Tool for E-Commerce at Tertiary Institutions 169
learning and the Internet facilitates a cognitive change in learners. Some authors
(Sheard et al., 2000; Tian, 2001; Fong & Hui, 2002; Sherson, 1999; Jones et al.,
2000) all agreed that the Internet usage provide students with flexibility, reliability
and freedom of choice, has increased within tertiary institutions and are being used
as an ideal delivery vehicle within a web-based learning environment.
This has led to e-learning that Jackson (2001) divided into technologydelivered
and technology-enhanced e-learning. Piccoli et al. (2001) categorized the
learner, facilitator and e-learning technologies into the human and design dimensions
respectively. Serdiukov (2001) suggested a Teacher-Computer-Student model,
which consists of the learner, facilitator and technology.
Some authors (Jones et al., 2000; Rossister, 1999; Nasseh, 1996; Uys, 1999;
Boser et al., 1998) all agreed that computer literacy is an important factor in the elearning
process. Interaction and communication were the other important factors
that should also be considered when developing an e-learning course (Laurillard,
1993; Sherson, 1996; O’Keefe & McGrath, 2000). The facilitator therefore needs
to understand and use appropriate e-learning technologies to ensure the quality of
the learning experience.
The Basis for Research
A pilot study was done on the topic of issues and concerns of learners using
technology-enhanced e-learning. The main objectives of this pilot study was:
• To assess the effective use of e-learning tools used at the Cape Technikon.
• To determine the perceptions of first year Information Students at the Cape
Technikon.
The Research Method
There are currently over 500 first-year students registered for Information
Systems with the faculty of Business Informatics at the Cape Technikon. An online
questionnaire as a survey method was used for the period August 5-9, 2002. The
survey targeted first year Information Systems students at the Cape Technikon and
165 responses were achieved. The questionnaire instrument consisted of the
following parts:
• Demographic information about the respondents
• 29 statements, using a five-point Likert-scale (Cooper & Emory, 1991), of
which 12 statements were based on e-learning technologies.
All 29 statements were equally weighted. The response to each statement of
each respondent was totaled to obtain total points scored for each respondent. An
item analysis, for each respondent, was carried out to validate the degree of
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