Implementing e-Learning in a Vietnamese University: A Configurational Approach

This paper reconstructs the process of implementing e-Learning at a Vietnamese University. A case study approach incorporating interviews with relevant stakeholders including managers, faculty, and students is described. A thematic network analysis (TNA) identifying and categorising the issues relevant to the e-Learning implementation process and its attendant organizational, pedagogical and technological factors is presented. The main findings of the thematic analysis are that it is organizational factors, e.g. lack of management commitment, a bureaucratic structure, technology availability, rather than other factors that most significant in influencing the sustainability of the implementation process. A configurational analysis is then presented that explains the reasons why the interaction between contextual factors and the implementation process led on this occasion to an unsustainable outcome; an explanation supported by the interaction between e-learning needs, demands, capacity and competencies. In a conclusion suggestions are given as to why implementers of e-Learning can benefit from adopting a configurational approach within their own institution.