Analysing the effectiveness of e-learning based on national and international cultures and approaches to pedagogy

This paper presents the results of several studies looking at the influence of national and international cultures and approaches to pedagogy on the effectiveness of designing, implementing and using e-learning systems and technology in Higher Education institutions. The authors have developed a questionnaire, which was completed by mature Libyan students enrolled for PhD studies in UK who also are full-time lecturers at the Universities of Tripoli, Garyounis, Aljabal-Algharbi and El-zawia. The quantitative and qualitative analysis of the answers show several problems linked to the use of e-learning and ICT in Libyan universities. The paper also contains the results of a study about using technology in teaching at the University of Huddersfield, UK. So a comparison is made between the perceptions of Libyan and English lecturers about teaching with technology in HE. It is obvious that the national and international cultures and approaches to pedagogy play an important role in using effectively e-learning systems and technology in Higher Education institutions. Several recommendations about implementing successfully e-learning and ICT in Libyan Universities are made by taking into account that institutional, pedagogical and technological contexts of product implementation have a similar influence as national and international cultures and approaches to pedagogy.