Abstract

History tells us that rapid changes bring about many dangers. So, researches can help to decrease these dangers. Higher education will be shaping the global landscape in 2025. As global business grows increasingly borderless and labor markets more seamless, education has become a key determinant of countries’ economic performance and potential. Adequate higher education is essential, but the quality and accessibility of secondary and higher Education will be even more important for determining whether societies successfully graduate up continuous improvement ladder. One of these changes in educational system has been the advent of E-learning especially Web-based learning. The most pressing challenge on web-based courses is about how to increase the effectiveness of learning especially for Web-based courses in Iran. The general objective of this study was to identify factors that may influence the effectiveness of Web-based computer courses in Iranian university E-learning centers as perceived by students. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed on a total of 482 valid responses. This study found that generally four independent variables significantly contribute to the effectiveness of web-based computer courses including: Students’ perception toward learning experiences on Web-based courses, Students’ perception toward Instructional techniques and tools that students would prefer to use on the Web-based courses, Students’ perception toward the extent of used computer applications by the instructor of “programming” or “Introduction to IT” Web-courses in the first semester in 2008/09 and the hours that students spent on computer per week to study the course. The study has contributed new knowledge in the literature of Web-based learning especially for Iranian E-learning centers and creates the need for further researches in this area as well.