ABSTRACT
In the contemporary knowledge-based economy there is an increasing demand of higher education delivered by well established Universities. The adoption of e-learning technologies may be seen as a way to react to such demand, coming from students located in a variety of different countries (Al-Qathani and Higgins, 2013; Bell and Federman, 2013). It is thought as the natural outcome of the students’ tendency to use more and more electronics sources and references (Yuan and Powell, 2013). But it also relies on learners’ self-discipline, and neither does it give the chance to structure study time nor provides the benefit deriving from of face to fact interaction (Banerjee and Duflo, 2014). Furthermore, e-learning systems are praised as being a disruptive innovation that will re-design higher education (Yuan and Powell, 2013); hence considering the Internet and its applications as a “cognitive extension for humanity” (McAuley et al., 2010: 33). The widespread diffusion of e-learning has also been coupled with a debate concerning its efficacy and usefulness in learning processes (Al-Qahtani and Higgins, 2013; Adeola et al., 2013; Carril et al., 2013).
