Content Management and Support in 3.0 E-learning Model

A number of E-learning models have been proposed in the literature capturing critical success factors of E-learning in an attempt to denote how E-learning can be made effective to achieve the best learning outcomes. In fact, E-learning has redefined the way education is dispensed across the world. It is viewed as a modern, effective and efficient alternative to education for a number of reasons including an alternate means to cater for the increasing demand for higher education and to cater for the increasing expectations to make the learning process more customised to learners' needs to achieved the best learning outcomes. The concept of Web 3.0 is often associated with the Semantic Web, which is a recent effort to make the Web more meaningful to machines. In fact, the Semantic Web is seen as a promising technology to meet E-learning requirement. Consequently, this study represents an attempt to provide a holistic representation of E-learning critical success factors as well as Semantic Web characteristics. The study proposes a combined E-learning and Semantic Web model, E-learning 3.0, derived from the literature review outlining four main characteristics namely Content Management, Teaching and Learning, Support and Technology. It focuses on two of these characteristics namely Content Management and Support, which are further analysed via surveys conducted within the Mauritian higher educational sector from students and lecturers. Results following an exploratory factor analysis on the 2 dimensions surveyed provided a regrouping of their sub characteristics allowing for a more integrated representation of these characteristics within the combined model.