Valuating educational portals in public health

ABSTRACT

Internet is one of the main indicators of the many scientific, economical and social opportunities raised from information technology. Due to growing popularity of internet, using portals is a convenient and cost effective way for public health education and service provision. This paper explores evaluation criteria for a portal site. Defining these criteria helps greatly in design, implementation, evaluation and usage of these portal by managers and users. In this descriptive study, 53 experts in the field of web programming were selected through purposeful sampling. Data were collected through internet search interview with key informants and a questionnaire with likert scale. The questionnaire was designed according to software standards and researcher's experience. Questionnaire was reviewed for face and content validity by key informants. Reliability was achieved through pilot study and facto analysis [Alfa Cronbach=0.78]. Findings were analyzed using SPSS. [Cost of buying a portal] ranked highest among 10 assessed parameters. This means that the cost is a major influencing factor regardless of technical aspects of the site and selection guidelines. In addition, maintenance and updating cost of these sites compare to their production cost has increased according to current standard software. Managers should be knowledgeable about evaluation and selection of portals for health and medical institutions. This will enhance quality of design and services provided through portals