Critical Success Factors for the Effective Implementation of E-Learning in South African Higher Education Institutions

For the past two decades, the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has become vital in remodelling the teaching and learning in higher education (HE). The expansion of ICTs and other educational technologies over the years have affected higher education institutions (HEIs) to move from traditional ways of teaching to other modalities of teaching such as e-learning. In the 21st century, the abundance of these technologies and various electronic devices, provide students with versatile modes to access content, to share data, and to manipulate content irrespective of geographic location and time. As a result, over the past years e-learning has become a priority in many HEIs globally and in South Africa. This paper focuses on Phase 1 of the fully mixed sequential equal status research design and methodology to uncap some of the critical success factors to consider when HEIs want to develop their e-learning initiatives. The findings from Phase 1 (interpretivist phase) identified a combination several important critical success factors to take into consideration to ascertain e-learning in South African HEIs: (i) the eight critical success factors for e-learning acceptance developed by Selim (2007), (ii) the eight critical success factors which influence the implementation, and (iii) first year students' participation in e-learning.