E-learning platforms supporting the educational effectiveness of distance learning programmes: a comparative study in administrative sciences

Abstract

Over recent decades, the transformation of education through technology has created a more extensive tool for enhancing the Bologna process for increasing the quality, effectiveness and accessibility of higher education. In this context, literature supports the importance of Web platforms for education, in particular through comparative analysis, focusing on educational effectiveness and promoting quality education. Few studies have integrated the analysis with the economic issues. This paper aims to achieve a comparative study of Web platforms, in terms of raising the effectiveness of distance education, and the economic costs required to implement them. The research methodology is using, for the first time, an adapted version of cost-effectiveness analysis. Empirical research will be carried out on two platforms of e-learning - Learning Management System (LMS) and Moodle - used by our university to support distance education programs. The working hypothesis starts from the fact that open source software is cheaper than that developed internally, even if it does not fully meet the needs of the university.