Critical Issues in E-Learning Project Management in the Context of Web Technologies Development

Background

What makes e-learning project management different? At the heart of the question lies the hybrid nature of e-learning. It is a combination of three different domains: learning and content design, software development and corporate communications. Each of these three domains can lead to logistic challenges. The combination of all of them gives a complex set of responsibilities for the project manager. On the other hand, an e-learning project is actually two projects in one: a software project combined with an education/performance enhancement project. That means more scope, more stakeholders, more risk, longer duration, more budget pressures, and more opportunities for communication to fail.

Extensive literature on e-learning project management does not exist. There is no substantial information on e-learning project management methodologies. The studies, focusing on the need for project management function in the online learning course development process at universities are prevailing. The content analysis of enormous material of the Internet (blogs, e-learning sites etc.) gives a picture of the present state of e-learning project management, and highlights the enormous gaps and the need for further theoretical, analytical and critical work in this field.