E-Learning in Taiwan's Higher Education: Policies, Practices, and Problems

Ke Zhang, Texas Tech University
Jui-long Hung, Texas Tech University

Abstract

It has been three years since Taiwan started the comprehensive e-learning initiatives in 2002. What is the current status of Taiwan’s e-learning in higher education? What has been shaping and guiding the e-learning practices there? What are the problems in its e-learning policies and implementations? What can policy makers and higher education systems elsewhere learn from Taiwan’s experiences? With critical analyses on related policies and a thorough investigation on e-learning in all of the 147 four-year universities in Taiwan, this study investigated these questions, identified fundamental problems in Taiwan’s e-learning, and generated suggestions to address these problems. With 1.3 billion Chinese speakers worldwide and estimated 30 million people learning Chinese in non-Chinese speaking countries, this paper is of particular value not only for policy makers and the higher education system in Taiwan and elsewhere, but also for e-learning venders and developers who would like to extend e-learning business to the broader Chinese-speaking market.