The Effectiveness of e-Learning Portal in Distance Education as Perceived by Students inUniversiti Sains Malaysia

This paper seeks to present the receptiveness and effectiveness in the e-learning portal of the distance education academic programme in the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) for the 2007/2008 academic session. The study involved a sample of 1084 students and focused the participation needs based on respondents’ personal background, such as age, gender, education streams, ethnicity and current Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA). The analysis showed that most of the students had positive opinions about the effectiveness of the e-learning portal. This research is essential to gauge the initial perception of effectiveness of e-learning portal in distance education. Course evaluations are seriously important and should be increased in regularity to find out whether e-learning programs can deliver whatever they intended in distance education.