The Effectiveness of Sdms in the Development of E-learning Systems in South Africa

E-learning systems, or learning management systems, as it is known in the field, sit at the heart of educational systems and are used to systematically deliver on-line content and facilitate the learning experience around that content. It becomes essential to ensure that Learning Management Systems of a high standard are being developed. In the field of Systems Development Methodologies (SDMs), much research has been done and the value of SDMs is proven and documented. To ensure that e-learning systems of outstanding quality are being developed, it is crucial that systems development methodologies are being used as they can have a significant impact on the development process. The main focus of this study was to determine if systems development methodologies are being utilised in the development of electronic learning systems in South Africa and if these methodologies are being applied effectively. By utilising a survey as the main research method and statistically analysing the dataset, meaningful results were obtained. Some of the findings were that academic institutions are clearly using open-source LMSs more than proprietary LMSs. The LMS platform had a moderate effect on the success of the LMS. Open-source LMS users were very satisfied with their LMS platform and not inclined to consider a proprietary LMS for future projects. Proprietary LMS users may be inclined to consider an open-source LMS for future projects. It was found that a very strong relationship exists between respondents that indicated that they use RAD as SDM and the impact this SDM had on the quality and productivity of the development process. It was found that a very strong relationship exists between the perceived support that the SDM provides and the impact of the SDM on the quality and productivity of the development process. This in turn has a strong influence on the impact systems development methodologies have on the quality of learning management systems.