SWOT Analysis to Support the

Development of an E-Learning
Strategy in HEI

A Step-by-step Guide

Prepared by CARDET

Dr. Charalambos Vrasidas

[email protected]
Table of Contents
Introduction 3
SWOT Analysis 3
Definition of SWOT Components 4
Strengths 4
Weaknesses 5
Opportunities 5
Threats 5
Useful Tips and Questions to Conduct a SWOT Analysis 6
Implementation of a SWOT Analysis 7
Development of a SWOT Report 9
References 10
Appendix A - Checklist Guide 11
Appendix B – ICT Infrastructure 12
Appendix C - SWOT Analysis Worksheet 13

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Step-by-Step Guide
Conducting an e-learning SWOT
Analysis in Higher Education
Institutions

Introduction
The SWOT analysis is a tool that can help Higher Education Institutions’ (HEI) identify
their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. To prepare this guide we
reviewed the literature and examined practices in the area of elearning. We also draw
on our own work at the non-profit organization, the Center for the Advancement on
Research and Development in Educational Technology, where we designed and
implemented more than 100 elearning related projects around the world (Vrasidas,
2002; Vrasidas & Glass, 2002, 2004, 2005; Vrasidas, Glass, & Zembylas, 2009;
Vrasidas, 2016, 2017). The templates and tools presented were drawn from this work
and were empirically validated over the years and adapted from Vrasidas (2017) policy
and strategy for elearning toolkit.

SWOT Analysis
Figure 1 below illustrates SWOT values and categorize them into pairs with regards to
internal and external factors or known as positive and negative.

HEI Environment

Internal External

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats

Figure 1. Internal and External HEI’s environmental scanning through SWOT analysis

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The internal factors concern an institution’s internal environment (strengths and
weaknesses) whereas the opportunities and threats consider factors that come to
influence out of the university’s borders and serve as the external environmental
factors that will control the internal process of an institution. Table 1 shows the
interconnection of SWOT items and how the outcomes of the summary can be
interpreted and discussed to discover new opportunities and to manage and eliminate
threats.

Table 1. SWOT Analysis Grid

POSITIVE (+) NEGATIVE (-)

INTERNAL Strengths Weaknesses

EXTERNAL Opportunities Threats

Definition of SWOT Components

Strengths

The Strengths category includes internal factors that are likely to have a positive effect
on achieving the institution’s objective. They capture the positive aspects internal to
each institution that add value or offer a competitive advantage. Strengths include the
positive attributes of the people involved in the institution, including their knowledge,
research, backgrounds, education, credentials, contacts, reputations, or the skills they
bring to the organization. Strengths also include tangible assets such as available
infrastructure, equipment, funds, established academic and administrative staff,
students, and other valuable resources within the institution. Strengths describe the
positive attributes, values, tangible and intangible attributes, internal to each institution
or institution. They can be evaluated by area such as mission, vision, goals and
objectives, institutional structure and more.

Examples of strengths are:

● Partnerships with other institutions

● Faculty and staff support the mission and vision of the institution
● Quality Academic Programs and Student Services
● Dedicated and Highly-skilled faculty and staff
● Gender equality
● Accessibility
● Positive reputation
● Proactive student support
● Positive climate
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 ● Affordability
● Sustainability initiatives/ practices
● Technological infrastructure
● Research groups recognised internationally

(Khaing, Win & Aung, 2016, Martinho et al., 2016; Vrasidas, 2017)

Weaknesses

The Weaknesses category covers those factors that are within the institution’s control
and detract from its ability to obtain or maintain a competitive edge. These factors are
most likely to have a negative effect on achieving the institution's objective. Institution
weaknesses might include:

● Aging facilities
● Lack of financial resources
● Limited resources for faculty and staff professional development
● Lack of access to skills or technology
● Insufficient collaboration and communication across the institution
● Weak ecosystem for research and innovation
● Poor Internet connectivity and speed
● Low teaching quality
● Low levels of industry connectivity
● Pedagogic and curriculum issues
● Lack of funding
● Slow adaptation to market demands
● Wicked application/ registration process
● Access to counseling on broader issues
● Lack of skills and experience among faculty members to use e-learning
(Smith 2006, Khaing; Vrasidas, 2017; Win & Aung, 2016)

Opportunities

The Opportunities category entails those external to the institution factors that most
probably will bring a positive effect on achieving or exceeding the institution's
objective(s), or goal(s) not previously considered. Reflecting on the opportunities
assess the external attractive factors that represent the reason for each institution to
exist and prosper. Opportunities may be the result of education and research growth,
societal trends, technological advances, resolution of problems associated with current
situations, or the ability to offer greater value that will create a demand for the
institution’s services.

Threats

Threats category covers external factors and conditions that are expected to have a
negative effect on achieving the institution's’ objective(s), or making the objective
redundant or unachievable. Threats include factors beyond humans’ control that could
place the institution’s strategy, or the sustainability of the institution itself, at risk. These
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are also external and people have no control over them, but may benefit by having
contingency plans to address them if they should occur. A threat is a challenge created
by an unfavorable trend or development (e.g. economic crisis, conflict, etc.).

Useful Tips and Questions to Conduct a SWOT Analysis

Tips
To do a SWOT analysis that is both effective and meaningful requires time and effort
by a team. Some useful tips, before you begin are described below:

− Bring stakeholders together to establish a team dynamic

− Allow enough time for thorough discussion and reflection
− Start with weaknesses and then move to strengths
− Refer to institution's weaknesses as institutional “concerns”
− Classify threats according to their “seriousness” and “probability of occurrence

SWOT category related questions are listed below.

Strengths can be obtained by asking questions such as:

− What do you do well? What do you do better than anyone else?

− What are your core quality programs of study?
− Which programs of study are likely to have more success if delivered via
blended learning or e-learning?
− What advantages does your institution have?
− What do people in your institution see as your strengths?
− What unique ICT resources and infrastructure can you draw upon that
others can't?
− What is your institution's greatest accomplishment?
− What e-learning and infrastructure resources do you have?
− What are our competitive advantages?
− What are our core competencies?

Weaknesses can be obtained by asking questions such as:

− What could you improve?

− Which areas can be improved?
− What should you avoid?
− What are people in your institution likely to see as weaknesses?
− What factors lose your reputation?
− What areas are we avoiding?
− Where do we lack resources?
− What are we doing poorly?

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Threats can be found by asking questions such as:

− What obstacles do you face?

− What are your competitors doing?
− Are quality standards or specifications for your products or services
changing?
− Is changing technology threatening your institution?
− Do you have high percentage of dropouts or any other problems/
issues/concerns?
− Could any of your weaknesses seriously threaten your institution?
− What situations might threaten your efforts?

Opportunities can be found by asking questions such as:

− What good opportunities can you spot?

− What interesting trends are you aware of?
− Does it represent an ongoing opportunity, or is it a window of opportunity?
How critical is your timing?
− New technologies?
− Niches that competitors are missing?
− New needs of students/faculty/staff?
− What opportunities exist in the area, or in the environment, from which you
hope to benefit?
− Which are the unexploited opportunities for e-learning at your University?
− Which challenges exist in your University for which e-learning is a potential
solution?

Implementation of a SWOT Analysis

The primary purpose of the SWOT analysis is to identify and assign each significant
factor, positive and negative, to one of the four categories.

Therefore, before tackling the technology issues, an overall analysis of the

institutional structure needs to be examined following a four-step approach as
described below:
a. Collect general information of the institution

− Facilities and spaces

− Academic policies
− Strategic Objectives
− Overall vision and mission of the institution
− Strategy of the institution
− Summary and attach full document if there (this is crucial since the involved
parties and consortium will align the overall strategy with the e-learning
strategy to be developed in WP2).

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b. Examine the current status of ICT Infrastructure

− Internet
− Computers and Networks
− Technology resources and equipment
c. Investigate digital literacy level of Faculty/ Staff/ and Students

− Professional development on ICT

− Staff and Faculty training on ICT
− Students workshops on the use of ICT
d. Analyse the current state of online learning by asking key questions such as:

− How can elearning help my institution achieve its objectives?

− Where and how e-learning fits into the institution?
− What are the institution's objectives in initiating an e-learning project and are
they aligned with the overall mission?
− Is there support for the initiative from the key stakeholders in the institution?
− What are the risks involved in implementing this strategy?
− What is the vision that supports the implementation of an e-learning strategy?
− What is the goal for the end result?

The SWOT analysis process contains six steps as outlined below:

1 2 3
Establish a Identify the
Examine the ICT
planning and mission, vision
Infrastructure of
implementation and strategic
the institution
team objectives

4 5 6
Prepare and Refine, finalise
Conduct a SWOT
present a SWOT and share with
analysis
report consortium

Figure 2. The six steps process for conducting a SWOT analysis for MIELES.

The six step process presented in Figure 2 needs to be thoroughly planned. In step
one, the establishment of the team to be engaged in SWOT committee will take place
(and later in the e-learning strategy development). Step two refers to the identification
of the institution’s present mission, vision and strategic objectives. Moving on to the
next step, the committee will examine the ICT infrastructure and e-learning of the
institution and then conduct a SWOT analysis. Step five is associated to the SWOT
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report and consists of the pre-final form of the report. The end result will be a realistic
appraisal of institutional strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (step 6). The
key objective is to develop an e-learning strategy which requires the completion of the
described steps. The outputs of SWOT report (output of WP1) will serve as
components of the upcoming strategy on e-learning (output of WP2). Once these
questions have been answered and finalised, the committee can now use the SWOT
analysis to develop the strategy for achieving the project’s objective. The forthcoming
e-learning strategy should be considered along with each institution's vision and
mission.

Development of a SWOT Report

All strategic planning at each institution should be founded in the overarching principles
of the institution’s vision, mission, and values (Vrasidas, 2017). In most cases a well-
structured brainstorming session primed with a current environmental scan will identify
the major external trends and potential events that the institution needs to address
and/or monitor. Utilizing a SWOT worksheet (see Appendix) the planning committee
can identify the major trends and emerging events as these were identified through the
SWOT analysis.

The report should have the following headings:

• Introduction – overview of institution (1 page)
• SWOT Process (describe who participated in the process, names, role, how
many times you met, etc.) (1 page)
• Strengths – list in order of priority (1-2 pages)
• Weakness – list in order of priority (1-2 pages)
• Opportunities – list in order of priority (1-2 pages)
• Strengths – list in order of priority (1-2 pages)

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References

• Bralic, A. (2016). ICT and e-learning in higher education in Croatia: strategies

and current state. In Central European Conference on Information and
Intelligent Systems (p. 91). Faculty of Organization and Informatics Varazdin.
• Divjak, B., & Begicevic, N. (2006). Imaginative acquisition of knowledge-
strategic planning of e-learning. In proceedings of the 28th International
Conference on Information Technology Interfaces, 2006. (pp. 47-52). IEEE.
• Ellis, R. A., Ginns, P., & Piggott, L. (2009). E‐learning in higher education: some
key aspects and their relationship to approaches to study. Higher Education
Research & Development, 28(3), 303-318.
• Kenan, T., Pislaru, C., & Elzawi, A. (2014). Trends and policy issues for the e-
learning implementation in Libyan universities. International Journal of Trade,
Economics and Finance, 5(1), 105.
• Kenan, T., Pislaru, C., & Elzawi, A. (2013). Novel SWOT analysis of e-learning
implementation in hE institutions in libya. International journal on E-learning
(IJEL): Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
• Khaing, S. S., Win, A., & Aung, T. N. (2016). SWOT Analysis of E-Learning
Course Operation in Higher Education (Case Study: University of Technology,
Yatanarpon Cyber City). Genetic and Evolutionary Computing, 413.
• Vrasidas, C. (2002). Educational Technology in Cyprus and Strategies for
Higher Education. Educational Media International, 39(2), 123-131.
• Vrasidas, C., & Glass, C. V. (2002). (Eds.) Distance Education and Distributed
Learning. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc.
• Vrasidas, C. & Glass, C V. (2004). (Eds.). Online professional development for
teachers. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing, Inc.
• Vrasidas, C., & Glass, C. V. (2005). (Eds.). Preparing Teachers to Teach with
Technology. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing, Inc.
• Vrasidas, C., Glass, C V., & Zembylas, M. (2009). (Eds.). ICT for education,
development and social justice. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing,
Inc.
• Vrasidas, C. (2016). The 3-SIGMA model for Systemic, Systematic, and
Sustainable Innovations. Nicosia: CARDET Press.
• Vrasidas, C. (2017). Developing policies and strategies for e-learning. Nicosia:
CARDET Press.
• Zhu, C., & Justice Mugenyi, K. (2015). A SWOT analysis of the integration of
e-learning at a university in Uganda and a university in Tanzania. Technology,
Pedagogy and Education, 24(5), 1-19.

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Appendix A - Checklist Guide

This Checklist Guide of SWOT Analysis provides a series of steps to assist

institutions in developing an e-learning strategy in HEI, and to guide them in
putting the factors derived from the analysis into practice. This checklist also
will be useful to institutions in discussing with governments and other
stakeholders the development of an e-learning strategy. The following Checklist
articulates a set of steps as described below:

STEP 1
 Establish a planning and implementation team and assign roles and
responsibilities (create a list of 10-15 people together with their responsibility
towards SWOT analysis process).

Recruit members from staff, faculty, careers, IT and students and assign roles (i.e.
e-learning developer, e-learning curriculum designer, e-learning content
developer, Stakeholder, Distance learning unit administrator, Instructional
designer, IT officer, instructor, DL instructor, etc.). Include at least 3 high level
decision-makers [Rector and 2 Dean(s) of Departments from Education and ICT or
a closely related field]. The established committee will be the same for the
development of the e-learning strategy (output of WP2).

STEP 2

 Identify the present mission, vision and strategic objectives of the institution.

STEP 3
 Examine the current state of the institutional infrastructure
 Analyse the current state of e-learning at the institution
 Review all four categories in detail to gain a clear understanding of SWOT
definitions and components

STEP 4
 Conduct SWOT analysis by capturing SWOT factors which are relevant in each
of the four categories
 List your institution’s strengths / weaknesses and potential opportunities / threats
by completing the SWOT worksheet
 Prioritize 2 - 4 most important items per SWOT category (low priority, average
priority and high priority)
 Report key points from SWOT analysis

STEP 5
 Prepare a SWOT report summarizing your findings.
 Under each of the sections, prioritize your findings
 Present the report internally to get feedback
This report will aid the development of an e-learning strategic plan which is the
outcome of WP2.

STEP 6
 Refine and finalize report
 Share with consortium

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Appendix B – ICT Infrastructure
Describe the current ICT infrastructure at your institution. The table below is a guide.
ICT Infrastructure Yes No Additional Information (e.g. estimated numbers)
Computers
Laptops
Handheld devices (e.g. tablets, mobile phones)
Printers
Scanners
Photocopiers
Internet Access
Internet Connectivity
Wi-Fi
E-library
Institution management support
IT support
Software systems
Management Information System
Computer laboratories
Digital Library Software
E-learning Software
Website
Teleconferencing (video-conferencing)
Learning Management Systems (LMS)
E-mail
Virtual Learning Environment
Internet based learning resources
Multimedia resources (online or offline)
Help Desk service
Appendix C - SWOT Analysis Worksheet

Internal Factors Prioritization

Strengths (+) Low Priority Average Priority High Priority

Weaknesses (-)
 Prioritization
External Factors
Low Priority Average Priority High Priority

Opportunities (+)

Threats (-)

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