The perspective of students and faculty members on the efficiency and usability of e-learning courses at Ajman University: a case study

While there is much in the literature on the usability of Course Management Systems (CMS) themselves, there is little that looks at content of these CMS. This study aims to investigate the usability of the e-learning courses at Ajman University from the perspective of students and faculty members. The e-learning usability evaluation questionnaire developed by Zaharias (2009) has been used as the main instrument for data collection in this study. A semi-structured interview is another instrument that has been used to investigate the evaluation of e-learning usability. This form has been used to collect qualitative data from the faculty members. The research results revealed that the attitude of a majority of the respondents toward the usability of e-learning courses at Ajman University was, in general, at the agree level, which means that there is a positive agreement for using e-learning courses in the university. Most of the participants in this study view the e-learning courses at AU as being easy to use, easy to learn and with a user-friendly interface. However, first-year students hesitate to express a firm opinion about the usability of e-learning courses at AU. The students’ perspective varied by gender (with women showing a more favorable opinion) and college type (with students in the Business Administration College showing a more positive opinion). Interviews with faculty members from all colleges at AU revealed that most staff members are satisfied with the Moodle system. The study concludes that there is a great need to conduct more training for freshman students on how to use Moodle and recommends itPeer Reviewe