Learning Management Systems in Higher Education Institutions - Research Paper Example

Conclusion 6.1 Introduction (150 words) This study investigated the factors that influence the adoption of learning management systems by female members of faculty in Saudi Arabian universities. Specifically, the research sought to find out the external and internal factors that determine the extent to which female academics in universities in Saudi Arabia use LMS. To fulfil the objective of the study, an extensive research was conducted, drawing upon the research questions of the study as well as a review of literature relating to the use of LMS in higher education institutions both in Saudi Arabia and other countries across the world. This conclusion chapter presents a summarised analysis of the information that was collected in the study, the study’s limitations, and recommendations for future studies. The conclusion is structured as follows. The first section is an overview of the thesis. This section analyses the aims of the research, the main findings, and the relationship between these findings and findings of other related studies. This is followed by a discussion on the limitations of the study as well as recommendations on what future research needs to entail based on the current study’s findings. 6.2 Overview of the thesis (1600 words) The study sought to provide an insight into the factors that affect the use of learning management systems by female academic staff in universities in Saudi Arabia. In the introduction chapter, it was noted that LMSs encompass any utilisation of information technology to plan, organise, execute, and control the various aspects of the learning process (Rogers et al (2005). Some of the commonly used LMS include Moodle, WebCT and Blackboard (Chikh & Berkani, 2010; Vrazalic, MacGregor & Behl, 2009). Because Blackboard is the LMS that is most commonly used in higher education institutions in Saudi Arabia (Zouhair, 2010), it was chosen for investigation in this study. Although LMSs are seen as a vital element of elearning in higher education, the assertion by Al Balawi (2007) that only 28.6% of female university staff use web-based learning compared to 71.4% of their male counterparts necessitated an inquiry on why a very small percentage of female academics use LMS. In the review of literature, it was noted that the education of girls is a relatively new phenomenon in Saudi Arabia, but the Saudi government is investing significantly to ensure that women pursue higher education. Even then, the assertion by Al Balawi (2007) fewer female faculty members use LMS compared to men means that the rate of adoption of LMSs by female academics is still low, especially given that there is separation of gender in Saudi Arabia’s higher education institutions. The TAM theory (Davis, 1986), which identifies user perceptions and intentions behind the use of technology, and can thus predict technology use, was selected for use to study the external and internal factors that influence female academics’ use of Blackboard. Specifically, TAM posits that a user’s acceptance of a technology can be predicted based on the user’s behavioural intention, attitude towards the technology, and the perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of the technology (Alharbi & Drew, 2014). The perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of the technology impact the effect of external variables on the attitudes and behavioural intentions of users towards the technology, and hence affect the user’s actual use of the system. This informed the decision to focus on actual ways in which female academics use Blackboard and how external and internal factors affect the use of the technology. As implied above, the aims of the research were to examine the extent to which female academics in Saudi Arabian universities use LMSs, and to determine the internal and external factors that have an influence on the uptake of LMS and how they affect the use of technology in higher education institutions. To achieve these aims, a mixed methods approach shaped by a constructionist epistemology and an interpretivist theoretical perspective was adopted. This entailed the researcher creating meaningful constructions by interacting with the research participants (Guba & Lincoln, 2005; Gray, 2014) and collecting both quantitative and qualitative data (Creswell, 2014). Another important aim was to provide recommendations, based on the findings of the research, on what can be done to increase the use adoption of Learning Management Systems by female academic staff in Saudi Arabian universities. To a large extent, the aims of the research have been fulfilled. This is because the extent which female academics in the sampled universities use Blackboard was found, and so are the some of the external and internal factors that influence the adoption of LMS. Also, several recommendations in way in which the use of LMS by female academics in universities in Saudi Arabia have been provided. The main findings of the research are as follows. With respect to the extent to which female members of faculty use Blackboard, it was noted that age, level of education and one’s teaching position influence the extent to which female academics use LMS. Specifically, older faculty members (40 years or older), those higher educational qualifications (master’s degree holders and above), and those in higher teaching positions tend use Blackboard more than younger academics with lower educational qualifications and holding lower teaching positions. this finding is agreement with previous findings in literature, where it argued that older members of faculty with higher teaching positions are likely to have had an opportunity to interact with different types of computer technologies more in their research and teaching work, which is associated with positive attitudes towards use of LMS (Alghamdi & Bayaga, 2016; Avidov-Ungar & Magen-Nagar, 2014; Seechaliao, 2015). However, the finding that older female faculty members have higher Blackboard usage than younger ones goes against the observation that younger people are likely to be more proficient at using technology and are therefore likely to use LMS to a larger extent than older people (Charnkit, 2010; Yamani, 2014). It was also observed that female academics in the vocational education department use Blackboard the lease compared to faculty members in other departments. The low usage of Blackboard by teaching staff in the vocational education area can be attributed to the point that little research has been done regarding learning and teaching models or elearning models that may be appropriate for vocational learners (Brennan, 2003), meaning that implying that probably there has yet to be a teaching model that effectively integrates the use of elearning in vocational education. In regard to actual use of the LMS, it was found that Blackboard is used mostly for basic functions such as posting notifications for students, dissemination of lectures notes, uploading homework, small tests and quizzes for students, and provision of PowerPoint and YouTube content. Also, it was found that the level of use of Blackboard is influenced by the level of training that the faculty members have received as regards the use of LMS. According to the SAMR model (Puentedura, 2006, cited by Phillips, 2015, p. 325), elearning technology can be used to substitute, augment, modify or redefine how teaching is done. Based on the findings of this research it appears that technology is only used by the female academics to substitute some functions, as outline above, without making any significant functional change to the ways delivering instructions to students and interacting with them. As such, institutions of higher learning in Saudi Arabia need to find ways by which female academics can utilise elearning technology more such that the technology helps to augment, modify and redefine the approach to teaching. The internal factors that influence the adoption of LMS by female academics in Saudi Arabian universities as identified in the research include the academics attitudes’ towards LMS and their perception of usefulness of the technology. In regard to attitude, the academics generally had a positive attitude towards Blackboard through their beliefs that LMS is the future of higher education, that Blackboard is beneficial to students, that that Blackboard provides students more opportunities for higher education compared to the conventional system of teaching, and that Blackboard offers access to female students considering Saudi Arabia’s gender separation in higher learning institutions. In a related study, a study by Alshammari (2015) found that most of the participants (90.6 percent) were of the views that LMS has a promising future in Saudi Arabia’s higher education. Having positive attitudes towards LMS is important because based on TAM a positive attitude influences the behavioural intention to use LMS, which in turn positively impacts actual of the technology. The perceived usefulness of Blackboard was found to be equally important as an internal factor that influences female faculty members’ use of elearning technology. Blackboard is perceived to be useful because according the research participants, it helps improve teaching, helps in the administration of various functions in instruction delivery, enables communication with students and helps lecturers conduct assessments and quizzes. In related studies, it has been established that there is a noteworthy positive correlation between the perceived usefulness of an LMS and the behavioural intention to use the LMS (Alharbi & Drew, 2014), which in turn influences the actual use of the system. The implication of this statement and the findings is that the more faculty members believe that an elearning technology is useful, the more they are likely to put the system into actual use. Therefore, there is need for universities to emphasise the usefulness of LMS since it is only when female faculty members believe that a given technology is useful that they will actually use it. Turning to external factors, training and provision of different kinds of support were identified as the key factors that influence the adoption of LMS by female academic staff in Saudi Arabian universities. Training is important because it influences both the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of an LMS, which in turn affects users’ behavioural intentions to use the LMS. Since the aspects of an LMS being ‘easy to use’ and ‘useful’ predict attitudes towards the technology (Davis, 1989; Renny & Siringoringo, 2013), it is important to provide training to female faculty members not only to demystify the difficulties that associated with the use of technology but also ensure that the technology is seen to be useful in the day-to-day teaching activities of academics. In regard to provision of support, it was found that technical government support, peer support, student support and administrative support from the institutions of higher learning is necessary to ensure that female academics use LMS. As noted by the research participants, government support is one of the greatest forms of support that the female academics receive to use LMS effectively. However, more need to be done to ensure that universities have policies that entrench the use of LMS and that there is peer and student support to ensure effective utilisation of elearning technologies such as Blackboard. Provision of support is an external factor that has a direct influence on how users perceive elearning technology in terms of whether it is useful and easy to use (Renny & Siringoringo, 2013; Wichadee, 2015). As such, KSA universities need to include clear LMS policies for their academic staff and students to facilitate the peer and student support. In addition, universities need to provide infrastructure and technical supports to ensure that both faculty members have access to LMS technology and are actually able to use the technology. Recommendations have also been provided on way to increase the adoption of LMS by female academics in KSA universities. The recommendations focus on provision of training and supports to help ensure that more female academics have access to and are able to use LMSs in their work. Read More