Adopting eModeration: Understanding the User Experience in This Organizational Change

Automated marking has been applied widely and researched in depth. Online-moderation of examination scripts, however, is an emerging technology in the area of online teaching. Despite the potential for optimizing examination procedures, the application of online moderation is limited. Likewise the literature reflects a paucity on studies about the factors that determine the adoption of eModeration. The focus of this study is not automated marking but rather eModeration. Furthermore the relationship under investigation is that between the eModerator and the dean of the faculty -and not between the student and the lecturer as in automated marking. This study is guided by the questions: What is an appropriate framework for measuring the User Experience for an eModeration system? This research investigated what an appropriate framework for measuring the user experience in using an eModeration system would be using a design science methodology. The research methodology will using multiple data generation methods. The data generation methods used to collect empirical (field) data or evidence, in determining the user experience of the electronic moderation process are interviews (qualitative) with four deans from the faculties and questionnaires (quantitative) with moderators. The research was conducted at a Private Higher Education Institution in South Africa. The paper provides some insights into the user experience of deans and eModerators and some insights on improving the user experience by aligning the system structures with the user expectations. The improved understanding of the eModerators and dean's user experience contribute to our understanding of the factors that determine the adoption of eModeration.