A Methodological Approach for the Quality Assurance of Virtual Platforms Delivering Short-Term Online IT Courses

Abstract

Online course delivery democratizes learning throughout life and creates opportunities for knowledge socialization. Short online IT courses have become famous among the audience. This research paper specifies weights by applying the Best Worst Method (BWM) for the dimensions and indicators determined as criteria a platform needs to meet to be a quality short online IT course delivery platform (SOITCDP). In this context, the paper considers thirteen popular SOITCDP and VIseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method to rank them based on their performance. The Sensitivity analysis ensures that the framework universally applies to evaluating any SOITCDP. The evaluation results are presented through comprehensive and interactive dashboards demonstrated on Power BI. The result of the research depicts that the "Teaching Resources" of the dimensions gained the highest weight while the "Attraction" indicator secured the rank one.The overall performance of platforms showcases that "Udemy" has excelled in all dimensions and indicators. The subsequent study also provides directions for implementing a framework to evaluate the performance of the platforms. The novelty of the research is highlighted on the grounds of implementing a framework unique to the evaluation of short-term online IT courses and the demonstration of results on interactive dashboards.