The Effectiveness of E-Learning in Higher Education: A Case Study of University of Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom

Abstract

An appraisal of the contributions and limitations of technology in supporting and improving
lecturing at a low cost urgently required, as governing funding per student has halved in real terms
over the past 20 years especially in England, as noted by Gibbs (2006). A variety of technologies are
used in higher education, one of the most prevalent of which is Interactive Whiteboard (IWB), a
device that is economically significant at a time when universities are reducing the number of
lecturers whilst taking on more students. Technology such as IWB currently plays a crucial role in
higher education, since it is an interactive, visual medium that can help students by illustrating points
with graphics, pictures and models. IWB can also act as a Human Input device (HID), hence its
adoption by the University of Dundee’s department of Economics Studies in 2009. This qualitative
study explored the effectiveness of IWB in teaching and learning in higher education. Two
questionnaires were used as a means of collecting data, the reason being that they are reliable,
unambiguous, uniformly workable, easy to administer, cheap and fast, according to Anderson (1998)
and Altrichter et al (2008). The good thing to emerge from the students surveyed is that 95 percent of
them believe that IWB is critical to learning because it helps them to recollect the content of lectures, since the IWB enables lecturers to record their instruction as digital video files and post the material
for subsequent review by students. Findings also showed that IWB systems can help lecturers to
elucidate complex issues. In short IWB was found to efficient and effective in the delivering of
lectures and in improving lecturer’s teaching skills. In conclusion the study showed that universities
must cut costs, as well as investing in new technologies that, when used properly, will save money
and enhance both teaching and learning in higher education world over.