A FUZZY LOGIC-BASED QUALITY FUNCTION DEPLOYMENT FOR SELECTION OF E-LEARNING PROVIDER

ABSTRACT

According to the Internet World Stats (2010), the growth rate of internet usage in the world is 444.8 % from 2000 to 2010. Since the number of internet users is rapidly increasing with each passed year, e-learning is often identified with web-based learning. The institutions, which deliver e-learning service via the use of computer and internet, are responsible to choose the most suitable e-learning service provider for effective distance education. The purpose of this research is to identify the e-learning design requirements and to select the most suitable e-learning service provider. In this research, fuzzy logic – based Quality Function Deployment (QFD) was employed. A questionnaire was conducted in order to collect the data from a group of experts who were selected on the basis of their knowledge and expertise in related industry. By using the Converting Fuzzy data into Crisp Scores (CFCS) technique, the collected data was defuzzified. Then, the critical success factors of e-learning service providers were identified. As a result, fuzzy logic-based QFD was utilized for the selection of the e-learning service providers.