Economic efficiency of e-learning in higher education: An industrial approach

Abstract

Abstract:Little work has been yet done to analyse if e-learning is an efficiency way in economic terms to produce higher education, especially because there are not available data in official statistics. Despite of these important constrains, this paper aims to contribute to the study of economic efficiency of e-learning through the analysis of a sample of e-learning universities during a period of time (1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002).We have wanted to obtain some empirical evidence to understand if e-learning is a feasible model of providing education for universities and which are the variables that allow for feasibility attainment. The main findings are: 1) that the rise of the number of students enrolled is consistent with increasing labour productivity rates;2) that cost labour savings are explained by the improvement of universities' economic efficiency (or total factor productivity); and 3) that improvement of total factor productivity in e-learning production is due to the attainment of scale economies, but also to two organisational innovations: outsourcing processes that leads to the increase of variable costs consistent with decreasing marginal costs, and the sharing of assets' control and use that allow for a rise in assets rotation.Keywords: e-learning, university, production, productivity, economic efficiency ©© Intangible Capital, 2008 -4(3): 191-211 -ISSN: 1697-9818 doi: 10.3926/ic.2008 Economic efficiency of e-learning in higher education… 192 J. Vilaseca -D. CastilloTítulo: La eficiencia económica del e-learning en la educación superior: Un enfoque industrial Resumen:Existe poca literatura que haya analizado en términos económicos la eficiencia del e-learning en la enseñanza universitaria, principalmente debido a la no disponibilidad de estadísticas oficiales. A pesar de estas importantes limitaciones, el presente artículo tiene como objetivo contribuir al estudio de la eficiencia económica del e-learning, a través del análisis de una muestra de universidades durante un período de tiempo (1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002). Se han obtenido algunos datos empíricos para tratar de comprender si el e-learning es un modelo viable de educación superior, y qué variables permiten alcanzar dicha viabilidad. Las principales conclusiones son: 1) que el aumento del número de estudiantes matriculados es coherente con el aumento de las tasas de productividad laborales, 2) que el ahorro de costes laborales se explica por la mejora de la eficiencia económica de las universidades (o productividad total de los factores), y 3) que la mejora de la productividad total de los factores en el e-learning no solamente se debe a la consecución de economías de escala, sino también a dos innovaciones organizativas: los procesos de externalización que conducen al aumento de los costes variables en consonancia con una disminución de los costes marginales, y el hecho de compartir el control y la utilización de los activos, que permiten incrementar la rotación.

LiveUSB Mediated Education: A method to facilitate computer supported education

“…The economic usefulness of ICT in higher education has been argued elsewhere (Bates, 2005;Vilaseca & Castillo, 2008). A lot more research still needs to be done before one can argue conclusively that the pedagogical use of ICT will save universities money while maintaining quality standards.…”

Curve-based e-learning efficiency grading

“…In regard to teaching, effectiveness refers to the transfer of knowledge as a result, while efficiency refers to the rate of the results achieved and the inputs. Efficiency is also referred as productivity, namely maximizing the quantity of output (number of student and their achievements) while minimizing the use of inputs (Vilaseca -Castillo, 2008). It is generally acknowledged that e-learning can be a lucrative investment by replacing classroom courses, but in this article, we focus on the aspects of knowledge transfer efficiency (Strother, 2002;Wild -Griggs -Downing, 2002;Vilaseca -Castillo, 2008).…”

Formation and Distribution of Financial Resources of a Higher Educational Institution in the Russian Federation: Improving the Methodological Support

“…Механизмы составления смет, анализа экономической эффективности внедрения новых или перевода старых образовательных курсов в электронную и / или дистанционную форму достаточно широко освещены в трудах представителей как отечественной, так и зарубежной научных школ и имеют глубокую теоретическую и практическую проработку [25][26][27]. В то же время проблема определения целесообразности использования финансовых ресурсов образовательного учреждения в процессе реализации внешних сетевых дистанционных курсов на своей площадке в настоящее время рассмотрена недостаточно полно.…”