A SWOT ANALYSIS ABOUT E-LEARNING SYSTEMS WITHIN ROMANIAN

UNIVERSITIES

M. S. IGNATOV1, D. MORAR2,, M. GHEORGHE3, P.S. FUNAR4, GHE. SOLOMON5

1
Quality Auditors Forming, Certificate and Improving Centre, Faculty of Engineers and Technology Management, Polytechnic
University of Bucharest, ignatov.madalina@rdslink.ro
2
SC ISO SYSTEM BUSINESS SRL, office@isb-consultantaiso.ro
3
Quality Auditors Forming, Certificate and Improving Centre, Faculty of Engineers and Technology Management, Polytechnic
University of Bucharest, ghe_marilena@yahoo.com
4
Quality Auditors Forming, Certificate and Improving Centre, Faculty of Engineers and Technology Management, Polytechnic
University of Bucharest, funarcpac@yahoo.com, office@cpac.ro
5
Faculty of Engineers and Technology Management, office@cpac.ro

E-learning systems consist of a planned teaching-learning experience, organized on a platform that provides materials in order to be
assimilated by the students. Today, e-learning systems are used by many people. Therefore its long-term sustainability must be
evaluated. As e-learning increases in popularity and reach, the need to evaluate the associated costs and risks will also increase. A risk
analysis needs to be part of e-learning design, implementing and development within Romanian Universities. This paper analyzes the
future risks of the e-learning process within 106 Romanian universities, in order to evaluate the real opportunity to extend the e-
learning platforms at The National High School System level, using SWOT analysis.
Keywords: e-learning, SWOT analysis, risk management.

RESEARCHS SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES teaching programmes and to prudently administrate

The aim of our research (carried out between 2010
and 2012) was centred on the analysis of educational
Romanian market in order to evaluate the long-term
viability and development of e-learning platforms
within the National System of Higher Education (HSE),
using SWOT Analysis.
The study was focused on identifying the strengths
and weaknesses (especially), which represents the risks
related to the implementation of e-learning platforms
within universities from Romania, and their future
extension to all higher educational levels:
undergraduate, master, doctoral postgraduate studies etc.
Given the technical progress in the field of
informatics, e-learning platforms allow the continuous
training for an increasing number of candidates, making
available all forms of higher education for the rural
people or for people with disabilities.
The study was conducted on 106 public and private
universities from Romania and followed the perspective
of inclusion the disadvantaged people in this way of
learning.
On the other hand, the continuous decreasing of the
allocated state budget to sustain and develop the
performance of High School Units from the public
system it forces the latter to find viable solutions for
long-term self-financing and to reduce their
infrastructure and printing costs (payment of utilities,
editing lecturers, paying the associated trainers and so
on).
As a consequence of free market evolution, one
performance indicator for the public universities is their
sustainable development, including here the capacity to
gain their own financial resources for the research and
their assigned budget.
In these circumstances, one of the objectives of the
research was to evaluate the needed costs and resources
for e-learning platforms design, implementation,
continuous support and development within Romanian
universities, increasing in this way the higher education
quality. The question is: Are Romanian universities and
their infrastructure prepared to meet e-learning
requirements?
PRIOR WORK
The implementation of ISO 9001:2008 and IWA
2:2006 within our department assisted us in updating the
learning methods and the training of competitive
specialists for The Labour Market. After six years of
Quality Management Systems certification, Quality
Auditors Forming, Certificate and Improving Centre (as
integrated part of Polytechnic University of Bucharest)
is permanently involved in discovering new approaches
to the learning process, in adjusting human resources
performance depending on stakeholder requirements
[4].
Due to the demonstrated success of e-commerce and
inspired by its diversity, multiple access possibilities
with a lot of links and its security, we tried to extend the
e-commerce concept to the teaching process, to fulfil the
employers requirements for their staff.
Applying the e-learning method in order to assure
competitive human resources was identified as a need
following a thorough analysis of our stakeholders'
satisfaction degree (students, graduates, employers,
enterprises so on) [5].
The first notable result of applying e-learning
concept in our department was the increase of access
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rating and the increase of training incomes with 60%
compared with 2009.
Currently, there are available and authorized within
the department six post-graduate and four short-time
training curricula.
Regarding our position within the Polytechnic
departments classification from the efficiency, training
quality and self-sustaining point of view, Quality
Auditors Forming, Certificate and Improving Centre
gained the first place, for the last five years
consecutively.
The Romanian E-learning general context
E-learning is commonly referred to the intentional
use of networked information and communications
technology in teaching and learning. That includes
online learning, virtual learning, distributed learning,
network and web based learning. Fundamentally, they
all refer to educational processes that utilize information
and communications technology to mediate learning and
teaching activities.
E-learning appeared into Romanian Training Market
about ten years ago, just as an alternative in foreign
language learning for business. Five years ago, the
method was extended to the distance learning
curricula, but only to facilitate students access to
lectures, books, virtual library and practicum for
laboratories, as well as to inform students regarding
their performances and their results.
The printed distance study materials, which each
distance learner received, would carry the core subject
matter content they would need including all their
learning activities and assessment tasks. Students would
be required to complete these tasks, submit their
assignments and take their examinations within a set
time frame.
The growing interest in e-learning seems to be
coming from several directions. These include
organizations that have traditionally offered distance
education programs either in a single, dual or mixed
mode setting (private universities, generally).
They see the incorporation of online learning in their
repertoire as a logical extension of their distance
education activities.
On the other hand, the corporate sector is interested
in e-learning as a way of rationalizing the costs of their
in-house staff training activities [1].
The attributes of e-learning systems are: the
flexibility that information and communications
technologies afford and the electronic access to a variety
of multimedia-based material that they can enable.
The concept of distance education aimed to allow
distance learners, who were generally adult learners in
full or part-time employment to be able to study at a
time, place, and pace that suited their convenience [2].
Typically, these educational resources could include
hyper-linked material, incorporating text, pictures,
graphics, animation, multimedia elements such as
videos and simulations and also links to electronic
databases, search engines, and online libraries.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Concern for accessibility information for students
through the development of e-learning platforms and
viability of this form of education has been the subject
of extensive research since 2000 in the United States
[3]. Thus, it arrived at the following results (figure 1):
77% of graduates believe that "a diploma that
certifying successful completion of e-learning curricula
at accredited institutions" is more credible than a
diploma from a "virtual institution";
- 7% of graduates believe that an e-learning diploma is
as reliable as a conventional diploma;
16% of graduates say that an e-learning diploma is not
very credible, but is acceptable, including from the
perspective of employers.
GRADUATES OPINION ABOUT THE
E-LEARNING CERTIFICATES RECOGNITION
The e-learning certificate is good enough to be employed
Equal credibility for
both acreditated
and e-learning
university certificate
More credibility for the accreditated university certificate
Figure 1: Graduates opinion about the E-learning certificates recognition
A study done in 2011 for Kaspersky Labs by A+K
Research Company (over 7,000 respondents from 16
countries) indicates that in the UK, the age limits for
accessing e-learning training is between 21 and 72
years. Also, people over 30 year said they did not feel
comfortable in perspective to return in a classroom.
The goal of distance education was to free these
learners from the constraints of conventional residential
educational settings. They would not be required to live
or attend lectures in locations away from where they
may be living and working.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The used methodology into the research program is
based on fundamental principles of marketing and
supposes to choose the best development solutions
based on SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats).
Application of SWOT analysis is to coercively act
on those aspects of e-learning management since the
A SWOT Analysis about E-Learning Systems within Romanian Universities
3
design phase, in order to eliminate errors and to reduce
potential long-term damage to the education system as a
whole.
Step 1 defining the stakeholders
The first key step is to identify all stakeholders on
the basis of established criteria according to the type of
provided distance education. Then determine the
appropriate communication ways with stakeholders,
syllabus structure, lectures content, needed
infrastructure, and the evaluation methods.
The identified stakeholders involved in our research
program are: employers from corporate and public area,
employees, students, graduates, secondary school
pupils, teachers, public and private universities,
Ministry of Works and Ministry of Education, Research,
Youth and Sports. We also included the rivalries.
University provides e-learning services and receives
back information related with students satisfaction
through specific questionnaires and is analyzing
students' school performance (figure 2).
Figure 2: Informational flow in E-learning process
Step 2 Establishing relevant quality parameters for
evaluation
Establishing relevant parameters for e-learning
evaluation and its feasibility was done in a multi-task
team (evaluators of Ministry of Education, Research,
Youth and Sports, students, trainers, teachers,
sociologists, specialists in marketing and management
educational projects, evaluators of the National Agency
for Qualification, and managers from corporate area).
Steps 3 and 4 Sampling and Questioning
Sampling, questionnaire development and statistical
analysis of the results of their application was made
after statistics and sociology rules to ensure the
relevance of the study (number of subjects, age groups,
professional groups, stakeholders, competition, structure
of the questionnaire and the number of questions and so
on). On-line questionnaire contains 30 questions,
presented professionally and following a logical array.
Step 5 Added value
Before drawing graphics regarding e-learning quality
versus traditional learning methods, it had been setting
an importance score (from 1 to 5) for each parameter, as
follows:
1 - very low
2 low
3- medium
4 - significant
5 very significant
Quality and added value are not only market
research techniques (including educational services) and
to exploit the obtained information, but are also ways
for results evaluation of the implemented projects.
Steps 6 and 7 Data analysis
Results graphical presentation can be made by
drawing parameter importance on the horizontal axis
in relation to the degree of key stakeholders
satisfaction, on the vertical axis.
Data analysis obtained from the questionnaires was
done by a multi-disciplinary team, together with heads
of department and dean of faculty.
To achieve optimum between investments and
expected results, parameters values should be placed
around the main diagonal of the graph (figure 3).
Figure 3: Data analysis using SWOT procedures
When the value of the set quality parameters is high
but the associated stakeholders satisfaction is low, the
university is facing with serious problems that can lead
to loss the future candidates.
If the value of the set quality parameters is low, a
higher satisfaction level of stakeholders doesnt prove a
high quality educational service, but a misappropriation
of resources.
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Inefficiency is found where great importance of the
analyzed parameter is combined with low stakeholders
satisfaction, and long-term stability will be where both
values are high.
RESEARCH RESULTS
E-learning allows access to the latest information,
acquiring new knowledge, life-long learning, new and
effective learning methods could take place when it had
a developed IT platform on which they can upload
hyper-linked material, incorporating text, pictures,
graphics, animation, multimedia elements such as
videos, interactive dialogue with trainers or teachers,
simulations and also links to electronic databases,
search engines, online libraries, and blogs.
In our study, 16% of those surveyed said that the
advantage of e-learning is to avoid unpleasant moments
in interaction with other colleagues, especially if they
do not understand very well some concepts and they can
avoid the feeling of shame.
On the other side, limited access to the internet or to
computers in rural areas may prevent generalization of
e-learning platforms al the national level, thus limiting
public access to learning and / or further training.
Research result reveals that only 50% of Romanians
(aged between 16 and 74 years) have ever used a
computer, compared to 55% of Bulgarians, 89% of
Germans and 96% of Swedes. European average in this
area is 78% (figure 4).
Figure 4: Computing using rate in Romania comparing UE countries
Only 38% of respondents between 16 and 74 years
said they have ever written or copy computer files,
compared to the European average of 65%.
Among young people, only 81% of Romanians aged
between 16 and 24 have used the computer at least once,
compared to an average of 96% across the 27 EU
Member States.
Using SWOT analysis on e-learning process
developed within all 106 Romanian universities
obtained the following results (centralized in figure 4):
Figure 4: Long-term effect on the quality of higher education and university
prestige
Analyzing the graphical representation it can be
said that e-learning educational option for higher
education has low efficiency, at this moment.
Thus, among the strengths of Romanian higher
education e-learning curricula can be identified:
focus on student involvement in drafting and
accessing online library;
access to knowledge in real-time from anywhere,
anytime;
flexible schedule;
more efficient school taxes cashing, automate data
analysis regarding students performance, efficiency
testing process (only by reducing the allocated time
for examination and by automatic calculation of
exam score);
access to more educational materials from several
sources;
making available all forms of higher education for
the rural people or for people with disabilities;
long-life training for graduates and employees from
private and public area.
Among the identified opportunities could be
including:
the absence of travel or accommodation expenses
for the applicant;
it not required discontinuation of current
professional activity of the applicant;
stimulating professional blogs as a means of
collaboration between students and between them
and the teacher;
saving education direct / indirect costs (payment of
utilities, editing lecturers, paying the associated
trainers and so on);
reducing costs for campus renovation or
development;
stimulate continuous updating of online libraries.
Weaknesses include:
Our evaluation indicates that preparing online e-learning
curricula is more expensive than a traditional classes,
because the needs to involve specialized people in web
design and instructional design.
A SWOT Analysis about E-Learning Systems within Romanian Universities
5
e-learning can be effective when the technical
infrastructure is appropriate (enough computers,
high speed internet connection);
online course cost is quite high - to follow such a
form of education, candidates must trust that what
is offered is high quality education and it justifying
the costs;
online teacher participation in professional blogs
assume their un-availability for other activities
(such is research);
drastically reduces the possibility of students
selecting in order to build up the future teaching
staff in the specified scientific area (appraisal of
intellect, ease of communication, personal
involvement, so on);
increase spending in organizing, developing and
managing the electronic library;
students guidance on various career fields
depending on their personal skills, is almost
nonexistent;
e-learning design and management requires
professors training in media platforms building,
editing video courses, developing software for
online simulation and automatic data analysis (that
claiming additional costs for human resources
training).
High quality education requires increasing the
institutional capacity for innovation and continuous
improvement of educational process. Therefore, the
quality of human resources plays an important role.
Threats are linked both risk management (including
the prestigious image of the university or education
quality decreasing) and the dynamics of technical
progress in the field. Thus, e-learning platform once
designed and implemented can become outdated even in
the next academic year.
Another threat is related to the diplomas recognition,
not only Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and
Sports or Ministry of Work, but also by employers.
Risk Management in e-learning process
Technical risks (damages of data integrity,
unauthorized access to databases, protecting
confidential information, software design errors, idle
session time, maximum number of instant users)
regarding e-learning process management are treated by
IT specialists and have been the subject of another
research program [2]. Due to technological progress in
IT, developing e-learning platforms is very dynamic,
with a low life cycle.
After questionnaires analysis, the study identified
more important risks for this form of higher education
than the technical one. These include risks of
transmission of erroneous information or acquiring
erroneous information received, followed by its
propagation.
Although e-learning platform allows the formation
of a structure of an academic year (year of study /
series / group / work group) in certain specialized areas
such as medicine, pharmacy, biology so on, it is difficult
to assure quality education in the absence of
connections between theory and practice. For
prestigious universities that want to implement TQM
(Total Quality Management), leadership, customer
satisfaction, teachers involvement and continuous
improvement should be a way of life.
Because of the general tendency among urban
youth (16-24 years) to communicate mainly via the
internet, their preferences for e-learning and could limit
their free dialogue or negotiation possibilities. Feelings
such as frustration, anxiety, irritability, needed further
the survival of normal adults could disappear. The
absence of adequate communication infrastructure in e-
learning platform can lead to student isolation.
Another potential risk is the failure to adapt to the
new working environment after graduation, particularly
its behavioural problems (failure to adapt in work team,
difficulty in accepting different opinions or in
compliance with a strict work schedule).
E-learning should be considered a long term activity
and its advertising must be done through information,
since high school.
Another risk is related with teachers inadequacy to
the new IT and media technologies. Teachers
continuous training in newest IT and media technologies
(more and more sophisticated as it is smart technology)
progressively reduced the allocated time for scientific
research.
CONCLUSIONS AND KEY CONTRIBUTIONS
The contribution of the research results in Romanian
higher education quality improvement is mainly related
to risk management and establishing corrective and
preventive actions in designing and implementing the
existing and future e-learning platforms.
Using SWOT analysis in e-learning project
management it makes the transition towards the ISO
31000:2009 (Risk Management Systems)
implementation in syllabus design, choosing teaching
and examination forms and by formulating a coherent
and long term viable curricula.
If classical education is organized by age groups, e-
learning education is organized by subjects. At the same
online class could participate students with various ages,
training, experience and different backgrounds from all
geographical areas of Romania or other countries
involved in Bologna Educational System. E-learning
facilitates the people integration in higher education
units, including person with disabilities. More than this,
e-learning promote international and inter-universities
co-operation.
Higher education provide both professional
education (assimilate theoretical knowledge, build
specific skills, transmitting ethical values and social
behaviour that are necessary in career development) and
moral education (training and development of
consciousness and moral conduct, personality building).
6 The 7th International Conference Quality Management
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All this students can find only in its direct relationship
with their teacher that they can choose as model. It is
possible that by using e-learning to disappear
benchmark and moral values.
Analyzing whole available data in a field, we
concluded that e-learning as long-life teaching method
is optimal for adults training (minimum bachelor's
degree) that have already an underline personality and
career.
Using e-learning as a teaching method for
undergraduate is not appropriate, primarily due to
educational immaturity of the candidates (high school
graduates), low quality of communication between
teacher and students and of summary online
examination method.
Impact study of implementing e-learning platforms
within the National System of Higher Education will be
the subject of a future research program that will
monitor the graduates psychological and career future
evolution.
Research results will be followed by developing a
Marketing Plan in order to improve the existing e-
learning platforms (including design, competitive
situation, communication strategies, costs and allocated
budget, advertising methods, promotions, pricing,
marketing vertical segment and international co-
operation, success metrics and schedule), initially within
Polytechnic University of Bucharest.
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