Special Issue: Vol. 18. No.4 (2021). 42-58. ISSN: 1823-884x Theme: New Media, Culture anda Social Learning 42 CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS IN E-LEARNING – A CASE STUDY Asliaty Atim, Ilidina Mahadi, Nurul Emilia Diyana Abdul Malik & Ercan Kiziltas ABSTRACT With the development of the Internet and Information, Communication Technology (ICT), many educational institutions offer a blended education in which students learn via electronic and online media as well as traditional face-to-face teaching. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has made online education or e-learning compulsory in almost all educational institutions globally. This research has been designed to indicate the critical success factors (CSF) for e- learning. This case study focused on an in-depth probing from students’ perspectives on the factors that affect the success of the course in a semester. It involved an IT course for undergraduates involving a 14-week learning about the theory and practical aspects of basic ICT skills. The researchers collected the data using a mixed-method approach via self- constructed questionnaire and semi-structured interview evaluating the students’ perspectives on their learning preference, participation and understanding in the course and the instructor’s technological skills, pedagogical strategies and subject competency in conducting the course. In the findings, the students have shown high agreement in persisting to learn despite Internet interruption or problems. The students have also agreed that they interacted with other students after class time and were able to use their prior knowledge and applied the knowledge learnt from the course to other courses. Other findings included good pedagogical and technological skills demonstrated by the lecturer. The study has contributed to the theoretical aspect of Instructional Design for online learning which anticipates CSF. Keywords: E-learning, Critical Success Factors, students’ learning preference, students’ participation, students’ understanding, instructor’s technological skills, pedagogical strategies, subject competency INTRODUCTION E-learning has generated enormous excitement in education all over the world. The advent development of mobile devices has further expanded the e-learning access to remote students. In universities, e-learning can be relevant to deliver learning opportunities and resources to both on and off-campus distance learning students, where they may be geographically scattered specifically during the phenomena of Covid-19. From one of the broader definitions, Clark and Mayer (2016) defined e-learning as instruction delivered on a digital device such as a computer desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone, which is organized to support learning. It is a well-established practice in universities, schools and organizations for delivering interactive, adaptive and flexible training, taking advantage of contemporary and emerging technologies (Ivanova, 2020). To ensure successful e-learning implementation, teachers and students must be competent to use various technology platforms such as Learning Management System, multimedia technologies and a range of learning application software available online.