Attitudes Towards LMS among Faculty Members - Literature review Example

Changes Further, the number of people in Saudi Arabia who are able to use the Internet and other new technologies, particularly young people, has been growing steadily in the recent years (Alebaikan & Troudi, 2010a) and often young people would like to use these as learning tools to connect with the wider learning community and to be globally competitive. Also, contributing to the debate about the use of technology by young people, Charnkit (2010), based on a research about the use of technology in public organisations in Thailand, cited some participants suggesting that younger people have a higher level of acceptance of technology, have the capacity to acclimatise to new technology, and can learn fast on how to use different technologies. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ On the other hand, Alghamdi and Bayaga (2016) have noted that many academic staff members aged 40 years or older have many years of teaching experience compared to those aged thirty and below. The authors, in their study, sought to examine the usage and attitudes towards LMS among faculty members in universities in Saudi Arabia. It is noted that faculty members of ages 40 years or more tended to be more involved in the use of LMS for most of their teaching activities than younger faculty with shorter periods of teaching experience. As well, an increase in age influences people’s capacity to share knowledge (Charnkit, 2010), which implies that older members of faculty are likely to be more involved in using techonologies such as computers to share the knowledge that they gather in their research. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Students’ attitudes towards learning management systems are also affected by the kind of support that students receive from different quarters, including at home and in their learning institutions. This point is highlited by Kanthawongs and Kanthawongs (2012) when they argue that “...students would intend to use the LMS system if their teachers, friends, relatives, and family members supported them to use the system...” (p. 93). What this means is that if the students’ families or learning institutions do not provide the required support, the students will not be adequately motivated to use LMS in their learning activities (Kanthawongs & Kanthawongs, 2012). Another factor that Rambo et al. (2009) identified as critical in shaping the perceptions of female learners was the academic discipline that one was pursuing. For example, Rambo et al. (2009) found out that female students who were pursuing studies in technology, linguistics, science or business were eager to adopt elearning. However, their counterparts who were pursuing languages, religious studies or other humanity courses were less eager to embrace elearning. Similarly, Prabu (2015, p. 113) has argued that the “awareness about elearning of science students is better than (that of) their counterpart(s)” in taking courses that are related to arts (Prabu, 2015, p. 113). The statements by Rambo et al. (2009) and Prabu (2015) can be taken to imply that faculty members in science-related courses then to use technology more than their counterparts in other fields such as humanities, hence the differences in preference of technology between students in the science field and those in arts or humanities field. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This chapter is divided into four main parts based on the findings pertaining to the three research questions of the study. The first part of the chapter discusses the findings of the study in relation to the ways and extent to which female academics currently use LMS in higher education in Saudi Arabia. This chapter highlights information relating to the participants’ teaching area/discipline, their actual use of Blackboard, and how training influences their use the LMS. In the second part of the chapter, the discussion addresses how internal factors, namely the participants' attitudes towards Blackboard and the perceived usefulness of the LMS, influence adoption and usage of the LMS. This is followed by the third part that discusses how external factors (training and supports) influence the adoption and use of Blackboard by female academics. The final section of the chapter is recommendations, based on the discussion and findings, on the ways in which adoption of LMS by female academic staff in Saudi Arabian universities can be increased. Iiiiiiiiiiiiii The level of LMS use was higher among participants with higher teaching positions as shown in Table 12. Participants who have higher positions (Lecturers, Assistants and full professor, and other) use Blackboard more than those in other positions (Instructors and teaching assistant). The lower percentage was 31.7% (Teaching Assistant) which is higher than Al Balawi’s (2007) finding of 15.6%. The higher usage of LMS among female academics with higher teaching positions may be impacted by the faculty with higher academic qualifications tend to to use various types of computer technologies more in their reaerch and teching work, and this is associated with positive attitudes towards actual LMS use (Seechaliao, 2015; Avidov-Ungar & Magen-Nagar, 2014). Tttttttttttttttt The only age group that had a lower percentage of female academics who use Blackboard compared to the age groups in Al Balawi’s (2007) research was the age group of 26 to 30 years old – with only 23.4% of female academics in this age group indicating that they used Blackboard. Alghamdi and Bayaga (2016) suggest such a correlation may be because most of the academic staff members aged 40 years and above have considerably more experience in using ICT equipment such as computers in academic work compared to those aged 30 and below. In their study, Alghamdi and Bayaga (2016) sought to investigate academic staff members’ utilisation of LMS and their attitudes towards elearning technologies in Saudi universities. It is reported in the study that staff members aged 40 years and above were inclined to utilize LMS more for most of their teaching activities compared to younger staff members with fewer years of teaching experience (Alghamdi & Bayaga, 2016). This can be attributed to the fact that the experienced staff members have attended numerous in-service training and workshops on the use of LMSs, and they end to applying what they have learned in their work. It is also noted that increasing age has an impact on people’s capacity to share (Charnkit, 2010), which means that older members of faculty are likely to use techonologies such as computers more in sharing the knowledge that they gather in their research. However, the findings in the current research and those reported by Alghamdi and Bayaga (2016) go against some of the literature that indicates that older people are not technology-savvy and that younger people are likely to be more adept at using technology and hence more willing to adopt the use technology (e.g. Charnkit, 2010; Yamani, 2014). In particular, Charnkit (2010) found that that younger people not only have a higher level of adoption of technology, they also have the capability to adapt new technology and can learn fast on hope to use different technologies. Clearly, the finding by Charnkit (2010) contradicts the perception that older female faculty members use technology more compared to their younger counterparts as found in the current study and in the study by Alghamdi and Bayaga (2016). Therefore, what comes out clearly from the above discussion is that in the future, there is need to carry out studies to find out the reasons that make younger female academics not to use technology as seen in the present study. Yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Across the different discipline areas (the particular teaching area), the degree to which female academic staff use Blackboard (utilise technology) has increased from 28.6% in 2007 in all colleges except the area of Vocational Education with currently has 25% uptake. As represented in Table 7, the content area of Humanities has the largest uptake with 51.3% female academics who use Blackboard (the influence of discipline is discussed in more detail in later sections). The low usage of technology in Vocational Education may be as vocational education attracts a diverse cohort of learners, and these learners may have different motivations for undertaking vocational education and training. Indeed, there has been little research regarding learning and teaching models or elearning models that may suit vocational learners in particular (Brennan, 2003). The lack of research about learning or elearning models in vocational education may have influenced the lack of uptake of LMS in this segment of education (Brennan, 2003).The low usage also could be related to the fact that over time, vocational training has not been popular in Saudi Arabia, with most courses being offered relating to “social sciences and the humanities, 00000000000000000000 it was noted that students who pursue courses in technology and science were more likely to use learning technologies as opposed to those who pursue humanity-related courses such as languages and religious studies (Rambo et al., 2009). It is however important to note that the finding by Rambo et al. pertains to students, not members of faculty. Nonetheless, the argument by Rambo et al. is also supported by a finding that was made by Prabu (2015) that the “awareness about elearning of science students is better than (that of) their counterpart(s)” taking courses that are related to arts (p. 113). The statement by Prabu can be taken to imply that students who pursue courses in the field of science are more aware about the use of elearning technologies than those students who pursue courses in the field of arts. In other words, the implication of the assertion by Prabu (2015) is that students who take science courses are more exposed to elearning technologies than students who take arts sources. What this means is that because of the higher exposure that students in the field of science have as regards the use of technologies such as computers, such students are likely to be more adept at using elearning technologies than their counterparts pursuing courses in the arts. 111111111111111111111 This section explores the ways in which female academics in KSA universities use LMS. 111111111111111111 Specifically, female academics who had received training on Web-based lectures (Blackboard Collaborate) or Blackboard features were more likely to utilise Blackboard in any number of courses. This implies is that the female academics tend to only use the functions of Balckboard that they are familiar with, and not necessary all the functions that the technology can provide when fully used. This point is supported in literature, where in a research by Alshammari (2015) to determine academics’ utilisation of Learning Management Systems in universities in Saudi Arabia, one participant noted that “despite the fact that LMS has many functions and features, only one or two functions are used by academics” (p. 146). The statement by Alshammari implies that faculty members tend to utilise only a few of the LMS’s capabilities that are commonly used, which limits the full utilisation of the system’s features by both academics and students. Therefore, higher learning instutions in Saudi Arabia need to find a way by which female academics can use LMSs more such that the technology helps in augmenting, modifying and redefining the manner in which teaching and learning take place. tttttttttttttttttttt However, there is low support from peers and universities for female academics as regards the use of LMS (Blackboard). Notably, a segment of the participants in the current study (the survey, 37.8%) were of the view that their university did not have a clear policy on the use of Blackboard. As well, the research participants indicated that peer support is low, meaning that the universities do not have mechanisms by which faculty members who are knowledgeable in the use of Blackboard can help their colleagues in the use of the LMS. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Since it was found that some of the participants were of the view that their universities did not have policies that adequately support the use of LMS, it is important for universities to inculcate the use of technology in their policies so as to reduce this barrier. In the survey findings, only 32.2% of the participants agreed with the statement that “I feel the university has a clear Blackboard policy” while 37.8% of them felt that their university did not have a clear policy regarding the use of Blackboard. Similarly, in the review of literature, lack of policy and administrative support were identified as some of the factors that hinder the adoption and use of learning management systems (Asiri et al. 2012; Fathema et al. 2015). What this means is that lack of clear policies to guide the adoption and use of Blackboard and other LMSs is an issue that institutions of higher learning need to look into to promote the use of technology by their academic staff members. Therefore, it is recommended that universities and other higher learning institutions should come up with policies (where lacking) or where the policies exist, make them more noticeable in various areas as follows. First are policies that define how elearning technologies are designed or acquired and implemented. This will ensure that the elearning technology that an institution uses is implemented with the needs of the institution as a whole in mind. Secondly, there is need to ensure that the course content that is to be used is designed in a way that makes it user-friendly with respect to both female academics and students. Along this line, universities need to identify how their course content fits with the LMS. Therefore, universities should have clear policies to guide what is to be achieved by the LMS. Finally, universities should ensure that female academics and students are familiar with the usage guidelines of the technology that is adopted. This is because female academics and students can only be motivated to use a technology in large numbers if they understand how the technology works and if they are conversant with the ethical issues that pertain to the use of the technology. ##################### The same applies if families support their students through initiatives that encourage them to use modern technology (such as by buying students computers and training them on how to use information technologies). This point was notably highlighted in the interview responses. On the other hand, failure to provide support such as infrastructure, facilities and policies that encourage LMS use at universities will reduce students’ motivation to use the technology. This was highlighted through responses such as “students still find it hard to log in and participate due to technical difficulties”, meaning that such students have not had adequate support that can enable them to use LMS effectively. Similarly, if students’ families do not provide the support mentioned above, the students will not be adequately motivated to use LMS at the learning institutions (Kanthawongs & Kanthawongs, 2012). 5.6 Conclusion of the chapter The discussion section has provided an analysis of the findings of the research based on the research questions. It has addressed the ways and level to which female academics in KSA universities currently use Blackboard and analysed how internal factors and external factors affect the female academics’ adoption and use of the LMS. In regard to the ways and extent to which female members of faculty use LMS, it has been noted that older faculty members (40 or more years old) with higher qualifications and higher teaching positions tend to use Blackboard more compared to their younger colleagues (26-30 years old) with lower academic qualifications and teaching positions. The faculty members use Blackboard in activities such as posting notifications, sharing lectures notes, uploading homework, quizzes and small tests for students, and embedding PowerPoint and YouTube content. The internal factors that have been discussed as having an influence on academics’ adoption and use of the LMS are the users’ attitudes towards the LMS and perceived usefulness of the technology. The discussion has also addressed how two external factors, namely training and supports, influence acceptance and utilisation of Blackboard by female academics in institutions of higher learning in Saudi Arabia. Based on the discussion and findings of the research, several recommendations are provided on how to increase LMS adoption by female academic staff in Saudi Arabian universities. Read More