آموزش مدیریت فناوری یک نیاز برای محیط اموزش مجازی Is Technology Management Education a Requirement for a Virtual Learning Environment?

I. INTRODUCTION We start with the question: is Technology Management Education (TME) a requirement for the success of Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)? Honestly, this work does not really answer this question, but regarding that success in the context of a VLE is effective and efficient learning, then our hypothesis is: Education of Technology Management is necessary for the success of a Virtual Learning Environment. Despite the fact that it might seem logically straightforward that using TME in managing and utilizing VLE should enhance instructors and learners performance, as far as the authors knows, this question has not been addressed in scientific literature. Hence, a framework to approach the matter may work as a baseline for future studies, and this is the purpose of this work. For instance, Pusnik et al. in [1] in regards to VLE claim that the success of new technologies and services must have a positive impact and be adopted by end users, that is, teachers and learners. A more recent study by Dominguez and Aguilar in [2] review the processes of Information Technology (IT) required for educational organizations, because e-Learning is “deeply affected by the changing environment and technological support”, hence they remarked that a satisfactory delivery of service to the user is obtained with intensive monitoring and management of applications and infrastructure. What we may observe from the former two references is an indirect and not clear criterion for VLE’s success, and an implicit argument for the requirement of the Management of Technology (MOT) for the VLE, respectively. Clearly, the existence of a correlation between MOT and the success of VLE is established, because without a satisfactory service delivery, the adoption of the VLE by the users is compromised. Another work highlights the requirement of management regarding VLE in institutions of higher education, by Segooa and Kalema in South Africa [3]. Their emphazis is in developing countries, which is close to our heart because we share similar context, barriers and challenges. Basically, they recommend [3]: 1) To provide enough computers to their students. 2) To ensure network coverage and maintenance that hinder effective use of VLE. 3) To embed VLE programs in the institutional policies and strategy in order to stipulate that both students and lecturers use the tools. 4) To provide continuous training on how VLE can be efficient and beneficial to students and lecturers. 5) To extend the facilities or library hours to allow the student that are underprivileged to access the facilities even after hours like evenings. 6) The encouragement to the newly introduced culture by supporting the program with incentive.