The Effects of E-Journal System on Organizational and Study Processes

Abstract

Motivated by practice of other schools, Europe Union policies, and The Republic of Lithuania's laws, Lithuanian schools are introducing e-journal systems to support pupils' learning, schools' administrative processes, as well as communication with parents and between different stakeholders of the schools' educational and administrative processes. In production-oriented firms, efficiency gains stemming from the introduction of Information Systems (IS) and Technologies (IT) to support the main functions of the firm can be estimated based on resource consumption and production volumes. In a learning- or knowledge-oriented organization, however, efficiency gains are difficult to estimate for a variety of reasons. Some reasons are a lack of previous research on the topic as well as a lack of practice among schools to monitor the effects of e-learning systems. In this chapter, the authors set the method for assessing changes in performance resulting from the introduction of an e-journal system in a secondary school. Following the theoretical model developed by Gaskin, the authors measure process changes using dimensions of productivity, efficiency, quality, and consistency. Besides describing methods for performance assessment, the study helps better understand the pros and cons of computerization of learning-oriented organizations and suggests venues for improvement in pursuing further computerization of schools in Lithuania.