Background: Over the last number of decades there has been a shift in medical education practice from traditional forms of teaching to other media which employ online, distance or electronic learning. E-learning can provide students with easier and more effective access to a wider variety and greater quantity of information. Objectives: The present study aimed to design a conceptual pattern of e- learning for Iran’s universities of Medical Sciences. Methods: This study was applied in terms of objective and qualitative in terms of data collection. The population of the study was the e-learning experts and faculty members of universities who sampled purposefully, after 30 interviews, saturation was achieved. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to interview. The qualitative data was analyzed using three- stage codings. Results: the electronic learning pattern of Iran’s universities of Medical Sciences was categorized in the following dimensions, including: "academic dimension" including components of synergogy and instructional design, human resources, infrastructure, management, organization, financial resources, ethics & culture, support, monitoring & coordination, and legal factor; The "spatial planning regions dimension" includes the components of the educational activities, research and information technology- related activities; the "national-macro dimension" includes the government’s structural and managerial supports, the government’s cultural and social supports, the government’s economic supports, the government’s scientific and technical supports, supports from the higher medical education, and supports from the private sector; the "regional – international dimension" including scientific and educational interactions, cultural and social interactions, political, and economic interactions. Conclusions: This study suggested that policy-makers, top managers of higher medical education, and those in charge of e-learning exploit the pattern proposed in this study for developing policies and programs for creating/developing e-learning centers, and sufficiently address the dimensions, categories, and indicators mentioned here, so that the long-term effects of operationalizing each category of the pattern can be demonstrated more optimally and quickly. In this way, costs can be reduced, repeat work can be avoided (especially in the face of environmental crises), and Iranian universities can progress in line with world universities and thereby take a big step towards the successful implementation of e-learning in Iran.
Purpose – Over the past three decades, academic leaders at Islamic Azad University (IAU) have been facing different challenges for the success of the institutions. The purpose of this paper is to identify the challenges confronting IAU academic leaders in managerial positions. Design/methodology/approach – In this qualitative study, questionnaires containing open-ended questions were sent to academic leaders in managerial positions at IAU branches in Iran and the collected data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Findings – The results revealed that the main challenges were categorized into two themes: internal and external environmental factors. Internal challenges were sub-categorized into administration and managerial affairs, financial issues, organizational culture, and students’ affairs. External challenges were sub-categorized into political, economic, social, and technological factors, and international and national competitions. Research limitations/implications – This study is limited to Iran and IAU academic leaders who worked mainly in high-level and middle-level of managerial positions; therefore, the results cannot be generalized. The key implications are related to applying continuous professional growth through collaborative and qualified development programs. The implications could be appropriate for other higher education institutions in Iran. Originality/value – This is the first attempt to study the challenges confronting IAU academic leaders in Iran. The findings can help IAU academic leaders plan the most appropriate framework for professional academic leadership development programs.
Ongoing efforts to strengthen internationalization have increased the numbers of international students in institutions of higher learning. Such inflows will clearly place local institutions on par with many of their international counterparts. This paper explores the significance of higher education’s internationalization with regard to leadership competencies and systems management. The objective is to examine a wide range of priorities that qualify a successful leader as well as an effective ‘systems profile’ for the internationalization of higher education and its profile on the internationalization of Iranian higher education. The authors analyze differences between leaders and managers as their core focus. Required criteria for effective leaders and team management are discussed with a specific view towards the internationalization of higher education. A qualitative approach applies and findings demonstrate how both leadership’s and management’s contributions and skills combine to accomplish the task. As a detailed synopsis, this paper provides prime incentive for future investigations of educational enterprises. It presents a substantiated framework for the systematic development of prudent internationalized institutions of higher education, particularly in Iran.
This study explores effective academic leadership as well as hindrances within Iran's private higher educational institutions. The author employed a qualitative approach that utilized purposive sampling to collect and analyze data. Findings were categorized into three classes comprising the (i) setting of direction, (ii) organizational and (iii) staff development at three administrative levels: central office, branch office and faculty personnel. Obstacles confronting effective academic leadership were identified as (i) centralization of power; (ii) bureaucratic hierarchy; (iii) budgetary restraints; (iv) ineffective interaction including ineffectual communications as well as social, political and cultural interventions; and (v) unqualified staffing policies that eschewed meritocracy. This study reveals that the functional purview of an effective academic leader is to drive an institution's vision forward towards achievement and define its mission and objectives. Moreover, it signifies an indispensable need for academic leadership development programs that incorporate, protect and support scientific management skills based on sound moral values, mutually established trust, collegial respect, and the application of transactional cum transformational governance methods in teaching, learning and research.
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