Computer and Information Science; Vol. 7, No. 1; 2014 ISSN 1913-8989 E-ISSN 1913-8997 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education The 3C’s Model: A Framework for Development of E-Learning Courses Sami Alhomod1, Abdulaziz Omar Alsadhan2 & Mohd Mudasir Shafi3 1 Department of Management Information Systems, Collage of Business Administration, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 2 Department of Software Engineering, Collage of Information and Computer sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 3 Deanship of Distance and E-Learning, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Correspondence: Mohd Mudasir Shafi, Deanship of Distance and E-Learning, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. E-mail: mmudasir@ksu.edu.sa Received: September 29, 2013 doi:10.5539/cis.v7n1p87 Accepted: November 11, 2013 Online Published: January 13, 2014 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/cis.v7n1p87 Abstract The number of students taking online E-learning courses is increasing each day which calls for the delivery of a consistent framework for the development of online courses. This paper presents a new model for the development of online E-courses. The model is called 3C’s Model and divides the development of E-learning course into 3 steps; course modeling, course development and course implementation. The model follows the development of E-learning from its initial phase to the final phase when it’s actually published online and learners are granted access to it. The 3C’s model defines a general framework that can be applied for the development of online E-courses across all disciplines and subjects. Keywords: education, e-learning, e-courses, online courses, framework 1. Introduction Traditionally, Education was based on attending classes, listening to lectures and appearing in exams (Albarrak, 2007). This traditional method of imparting education is evolving and new methods are developed day by day. The introduction of information technology in education is viewed as one of the important means of meeting the needs students, universities and society as a whole. Fry (2001) suggests that universities must embrace new technological advancements which are capable of transforming educational and business in order to survive in a global higher education market. The constant and rapid development of Information and communication technology has led to the introduction of online E-learning systems in the system of education. E-learning is now the main focus of introducing and using new and advanced technologies in the field of higher education. E-learning has been defined in different literatures in different ways (Wagner, Hassanein, & Head, 2008). In general, E-learning can be defined as an educational system that delivers the information using the Information technology resources like internet, intranet, satellite broadcast and multimedia applications (Albarrak, 2007; Urdan & Weggen, 2000). The main aim of E-learning systems is to improve the whole educational system and to enhance the interaction between students and teachers (Nycz & Cohen, 2007). E-learning systems are often used in distance learning education in different countries enabling students to obtain degrees online. In 2006, about 3.5 million students in United States were taking online courses at different level of their higher education (Nagy, 2005). According to the recently conducted report by Sloan consortium, over 6.1 million students in United States have taken an online course during fall 2010. Another result of their study was that over 65% of higher educational institutions regarded online learning as a critical part of their longtime strategy (Allen & Seaman, 2011). The future delivery of education is seen through E-learning systems providing teachers with superior and enhanced teaching tools (Organero & Kloos, 2007). As the enrolment of students into E-learning courses continues to increase each day, the creation and delivery of high quality E-courses content is becoming equally important. One of the ways to ensure the successful delivery of E-learning is to maintain standardization among the design and development of E-courses. Employing a consistent framework for the development of E-courses is Important when introducing an E-learning system. 87 www.ccsenet.org/cis Computer and Information Science Vol. 7, No. 1; 2014 This can effectively make students comfortable with different courses and reduce the time taken by each student to understand the course structure which in turn can allow students to spend more time on understand the content material of the course. Development of E-courses according to a certain framework can ease the production of content as well as take advantage of internet as a teaching and learning tool. This paper proposes the 3C’s model as a reference for the development of online E-courses. The paper is organized as follows; first a brief account of background of the study and related literature review is presented. Second the challenges and issues in the development of online courses will be presented. Third, the 3C’s model will be presented in detail. And at last summary and conclusion to the study will be provided. 2. Background and Literature Review E-learning is one of the largest subsectors of global education market. There are a wide variety of E-learning definitions. So it’s difficult to estimate the size of the E-learning market (Wagner, Hassanein, & Head, 2008). Global Industry Analysts, Inc. (GIA) in 2010 published a report which estimates the global E-learning market to reach $ 107.3 by 2015. However there is a little doubt that E-learning courses are becoming more popular each day with thousands of students joining the new courses each day. A survey of online courses reveals that most of the courses are mostly text based. A less number of courses are specifically designed for internet that combines smaller components to make a complete online course (Chin & Williams, 2006). There are a number of factors that can have an Impact on the successful development of an online E-course. Papp (2000) identified intellectual property, suitability of course content, building E-learning course, suitability of E-learning course and measuring the success of E-learning courses as critical success factors for any E-learning system. A review of literature related to E-course development indicated Interaction as an important factor that can enhance learning experience. The Interactions were classified by Moore (1989) as student-content, student-instructor, and student-student. Later Hillman, Willis and Gunawardena, (1994), added another type of instruction and named it as student-interface. Newberry and Logofatu (2008) said that quality of interactions is as important as the quality of content of an online E-course. According to Johnson (2007) in order to use technology to its best effect, it’s important to carefully plan, manage and execute these interactions. Chou in 2003 identified type of media, exchange of information and interaction between members of class as the dimensions for development of an E-course. Dennen, Darabi and Smith (2007) also derived similar dimensions for the development of E-course. According to Newberry (2008, p. 584), “The content of an online course should be organized around goals and should be presented in a clear and simple manner”. The simplicity of the course material and ease of adding information has also been defined as an important dimension into the development of online E-courses. One of the important elements in the development of an online E-course is the availability of the study guides. Any successful E-course must include a study guide that may include objectives of the course, list of resources needed to complete the course and the description of assignments (Carr-Chellman, 2000). A study guide can be used to organize the student interaction and as well as organize the contents of course. The importance of online tools to develop the E-courses has also been discussed. Owston (1997) says that online tools are easy to organize contents and add flexibility to an online learning environment. Online tools also enhance the interaction capabilities of an E-course (Newberry, 2005). In order for an E-course to reach it intended outcome, it’s important to organize material (Carr-Chellman, 2000). Proper organization of material ensures that the objectives of an online course are achieved. Good organization of contents in an E-course also ensures better level of communication between faculty and students (Phipps & Merisotis, 2000). Organero and Kloos (2007) identified Motivational factors as the most important factors for the successful implementation of an E-course. They studied Forums and Assessments as the tools for motivation in E-learning courses. An extensive review of literature identified that there are a number of models that have been proposed for the development of E-courses. Dan Tian (2005) presented the design and implementation of E-learning courses with hierarchical subject structures. He proposed the use of Learning Advancement Management System (LAMS), a web based software for the development of online E-courses. Newberry (2008) proposed the use of templates for the development of E-courses. The development of the templates is based on ADDIE model of E-course development. Chin and Williams (2006) study the example of “Universitas 21 Global”, an online institution offering courses to students and proposed a theoretical framework for E-courses design. 88 www.ccsenet.org/cis Computer and Information Science Vol. 7, No. 1; 2014 3. Challenges and Issues in Development of an Online E-course There are many issues and challenges associated with the development of an online E-course. Madhukar (2002) pointed out some of the negative influences of using internet as a medium of E-learning. He argued that introduction of internet as an E-learning tool reduces the student concentration on studies and is time consuming. He also argued that this makes student dependent on internet and in turn restricts student to gain knowledge by research. Another study conducted by Alexander and McKenzie (1998) pointed out certain factors which may result in the failure of E-learning systems. According to them failure to prepare students for using E-learning and not obtaining the copyright clearance may result in the failure of E-learning. These issues and challenges if not addressed adequately may seriously dent the purpose of an online course and will not serve the purpose for its creation. Some of the challenges that can seriously impact the success of an online course are: 3.1 Inadequate Planning The objectives of any online E-course can’t be achieved if there isn’t any specific plan regarding the development and distribution of the course. The course developed must cater to the needs of its targeted audience. 3.2 Insufficient Support Any online course can’t be successful if there isn’t sufficient support provided to the users of the course. From a student’s point of view, an orientation program on how to access and use the course must be conducted. As far as faculty is concerned, training and ownership of the courses must be provided to them. The must also be dedicated online support available at all the times. In sufficient support will result in lack of interest from the users and will ultimately result in under achieving of the objectives for which course was created. 3.3 Lack of Easy Access The contents of the course to be developed must be easily accessible to all the people intended to use the course. There must also be a single point of access to the course. Lack of easy access may also have a serious impact on the success of the course. 3.4 Evaluation Any online course must be checked for it quality in terms of course content and course presentation. An initial check on whether students are ready to accept the course must be conducted. The course should also be checked for quality at all the times for continuous course development. 3.5 Lack of Standards A set of standards must also be followed for the while developing an online course. The standards must be followed while implementing the technological infrastructure for the development of the course. The course must not also have an inconsistent look and feel and the guidelines to follow the course must be defined. 4. The 3C’s Model The development of E-learning courses varies in their size and complexity depending upon the objectives and needs of an organization. E-learning courses if developed with a proper framework can be delivered to different learners at different moments of time using the same material again and again. It’s very important to employ a consistent model for each E-learning course. To structure and develop an online E-learning course which can be employed for any online or distance learning course, regardless of the discipline, this paper proposes the 3C’s model. 3C is an acronym for: C = Course Modeling C = Course Development C = Course Implementation The goal of this model is to propose a basic and robust framework that can be employed for the development of online E-courses. The purpose of this model is to be comprehensive and can be applied for development of small E-learning course as well as for the complex online E-learning project. There are 4 main stakeholders in this model: Subject matter experts, technologists, Educators and the final users of the system to be developed. The 3C’s model is intended to develop the online E-courses through a sequential and systemic process which is explained below: 89 www.ccsennet.org/cis Computer annd Information S Science Vol. 7, No. 1; 2014 Figure 1. The 3C’s moodel 4.1 Coursee Modeling This is thee first step of an a online E-coourse developm ment. This steep is developedd with the helpp of subject matter m experts (SM ME). The aim m of this step iss to gather the requirements of the learnerss and create a basic outline about a how the coourse should be developed. T This phase is ddivided into tw wo more sub steeps: 4.1.1 Anallysis An analysiis is needed to determine whhether E-learning course is neeeded in an organization. Thhe aim of this phase p is to definee high level coourse goals. Thhe developmennt of an E-learrning course w will hugely depend on the learners intended too use the courrse. In this phaase we will ideentify the targeet audience off the course annd the content to be developedd for the coursee. The analysiis of the conteent would meaan defining thee organization and the amou unt of content to be put in the online course. In this phase we will also iidentify the ennvironment andd the time at which w learners w will take the couurse. 4.1.2 Designing the Couurse nts is This is thee second phasee under course modeling. In this phase all tthe informatioon gathered undder requiremen constantlyy implementedd under the deesign. In this pphase, defininng the sequencce of achievinng the objectiv ves is documenteed and pictureed. This phase also defines tthe learning obbjectives whicch underline thhe objectives of o the course. Thhis phase identifies the mediaa to be used inn the course andd the delivery strategy of thee course conten nt. In case conteent already exists, then this phase converrts the contentt into online m material and trries to improve the 90 www.ccsenet.org/cis Computer and Information Science Vol. 7, No. 1; 2014 quality of the content. The result of this phase is to provide a basic outline on the basis of which course will be developed. At the end of this phase, course structure i.e. chapters, lessons, activities are defined and the delivery method of the course is well understood. The delivery method can be either interactive self-paced material, synchronous and/or asynchronous collaborative activities. 4.2 Course Development This stage of online course development is carried out with the help of technologists and educators. In this stage E-learning content is actually produced on the basis of the blueprint provided in the course modeling phase. Depending on the availability of the resources the content may be developed. The developed content may vary from simpler text documents with no multimedia of interactivity to audio and video files as well as assignments and tests. This phase is divided into 3 sub steps: 4.2.1 Technical Requirements In this step the technical specifications like tools, languages and platforms to be used for the development of system are defined. The technical requirements like the speed of internet and audio/video capabilities of the course are also defined. All these requirements are well documented and system is developed with these technical specifications. 4.2.2 Storyboard Writing At this step, all the learning objectives defined in the design phase are used to write storyboards which define each and everything that will be shown on screen and everything that will be heard. A separate storyboard is created for each screen. Each storyboard of the screen defines the text, graphics, audio and video to be shown on screen. Storyboards are constantly reviewed by the editor and need the approval of stakeholders and subject matter experts. 4.2.3 Storyboard Assessment In this step the story board developed can be put to a test to be evaluated by stakeholders and their feedback is constantly implemented in each storyboard. Each storyboard is reviewed at this step and each agreed storyboard is moved into next stage of production. This step is also called formative evaluation. 4.3 Course Implementation This is the last Phase of our 3C’s model. It’s further divided into 3 steps: 4.3.1 Production During this step all the agreed storyboards are brought into production and assembled into course. This step involves creation of text, audio, video and media files. With the help of the web developer and some authoring tool, all the media produced is assembled to produce a running and published version of the course. 4.3.2 Implementation In this phase, the course developed is actually delivered to learners by installing it on server and granting access to the learners to the courseware. The implementation of the courseware requires the involvement of subject matter experts, faculty as well as the administrators of the course. 4.3.3 Evaluation Once the courseware is successfully implemented, it must be evaluated for specific purposes. The evaluation of the developed E-course is done to ensure quality of the course. This step involves testing the course once it’s online. If the course is not performing as it was intended to do then the development of course is not successful. Under this step the course is evaluated for its acceptability from the user as well as for its functioning. According to Kirkpatrick, 2006, evaluation can be done on the basis of learner’s reaction, learning, behavior and results. Learner’s reaction can be measured through surveys and questionnaires. Evaluation of learning can be done on the basis of achievement of objectives. Learning can be evaluated through assessments and tests. Behavior can be evaluated on the basis of learner’s interest in the course and results can be evaluated on the basis of changes that have occurred in terms of increased quality of the course. 5. Conclusion and Future Work With the advancement in computers and technology, traditional way of education has changed from being confined to a classroom to an open anytime, anywhere learning. The system of education and learning has been changed with the introduction of online E-courses. There has been a rapid change in the development of online courses and certifications. The successful development of E-courses is necessary for it to be useful to learners. 91 www.ccsenet.org/cis Computer and Information Science Vol. 7, No. 1; 2014 E-courses should be developed so that they can cater the need of both teacher and learner. Also quality of E-course must be ensured before it goes into production phase till it’s actually implemented and published online and post implementation quality assurance is necessary to constantly modify and upgrade the course. This requires for a consistent model for the development of these online E-courses. The main objective of the paper is to propose a general framework for the development of online E-courses. The framework is called 3C’s model and is divided into 3 main phases: Course modeling, course development and course evaluation. Each phase is divided into sub steps which define each process of E-course development. This paper only presents a model for development of online E-Learning courses. 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Copyrights Copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). 93