Increased Importance of Learning Management Systems - Research Paper Example

Abstract As use of technology in education becomes more prevalent in higher education, the importance of Learning Management Systems (LMS) has also increased (Yueh & Hsu, 2008). This purpose of this research paper is to spell out the key areas of concern associated with Learning Management Systems (LMS). The paper distinguishes LMS from other related technologies, describes their significance in today’s environment with an emphasis on the higher education sector and proposes a guide on the criteria that organizations could use to evaluate the best LMS for their needs. Possible frameworks for introducing LMS for the first time at an institution or for migrating from one LMS system to another are also discussed. This research paper also highlights how this technology could inadvertently negatively affect pedagogy at institutions as instructors are forced to teach in certain ways. This challenge is discussed in depth within the context of modern distance education programs that incorporate blended learning. Table of Contents Abstract 1 Table of Contents 2 The Significance of Learning Management Systems 3 Identifying key sources of information 5 Distinguishing LMS from related technologies 5 Evaluating Learning Management Systems (LMS) 6 Change Management in implementing and/or upgrading LMS 8 First time LMS implementation 9 Upgrading an LMS 10 The influence of LMS on teaching and learning 11 LMS, distance education and blended learning 12 Drivers behind blended-distance learning 14 Distance learning and faculty 15 Distance learning and students 16 Conclusion 17 The Significance of Learning Management Systems Today’s education system still largely resembles the Industrial Age in spite of society’s shift to the so-called Information Age. In the industrial age education placed the onus for learning on teachers and kept students passive. Students were all treated as being the same with all expected to grasp and do the same tasks in the same amount of time (Watson & Watson, 2007). In today’s world, education stakeholders are demanding for a more learner-centered education system that supports customized pace of instruction. It is difficult to see how to it would be possible to achieve these new customized learning processes for individual learners without technology playing a central role. For this reason, over the past decade, there has been increased use of computers in education (Watson & Watson, 2007). This increased use of computers in education has resulted in literature that has an array of non-standardized terms and acronyms. The three more popular technologies often cited in literature are Course Management Systems (CMS), Learning Management Systems (LMS) and Learning Content Management Systems (LCMS) (Coates, James, & Baldwin, 2005; Watson & Watson, 2007). LMS and these related technologies have the potential to meet these needs of today’s learners. This research shall be focused on the integrated computer systems known as Learning Management Systems (LMS). It is therefore important to understand what LMS is or is not, its merits and demerits, how to successfully implement it in institutions of learning and areas that need further research and development. LMS are important to both academia and industry. In Academia, several drivers behind LMS adoption have been identified. First, institutions are looking for means to deliver large-scale resource based learning programs efficiently and cost-effectively. Secondly, student expectations for advanced technologies are increasing almost as quickly as the technologies are developing thus universities have to match these information resources and tools needs if they are to remain competitive in the academic marketplace. There is a culture shift taking place in teaching and learning in higher education with LMS playing an integral part (Coates et al., 2005). Though this paper focuses on LMS in academia, it is important to also note that these technologies play a vital role in business and commerce. In industry companies need to integrate, organize and standardize learning across their broad organizational requirements (Grace & Butler, 2005; Hall, 2002). This is especially important for multinational corporations that need to enforce consistent learning standards and skill training across their operations in different geographies and in multiple languages. Also not to be forgotten is the challenge for companies with overseas offices to ensure corporate accountability, business ethics and compliance with international, regional and local statutes and ordinances. LMS offers companies the platform and technology to distribute, manage and assess their educational programs across practices and geographies in an efficient, fast and low-cost manner (Grace & Butler, 2005; Hall, 2002). This paper begins by describing what an LMS is in order to distinguish it from other related technologies. Second, it outlines how institutions can go about evaluating an LMS. Thirdly the paper discusses the challenges and possible solutions to managing the change process when implementing and/or upgrading of LMS in an institution. The paper then briefly studies the the potential impact of these online systems on teaching and learning. An emphasis is placed on modern distance education programs that rely heavily on blended learning technologies. The paper then concludes by identifying some areas for further research on specific aspects of Learning Management Systems. Identifying key sources of information In selecting our key sources of information on the current thinking and new developments in Learning Management Systems (LMS) we first begin by identifying the major stakeholder groups – academic staff, technical, students, development and administration (Ryan, Toye, Charron, & Park, 2012; Sturgess & Nouwens, 2004). Our major sources of information were mostly articles from academic journals and a few articles from industry magazines. Journal articles are generally peer-reviewed, attribute that assures one of the quality, relevance and validity of the claims, assumptions and conclusions made. Industry articles are written by practitioners and this gives us some confidence in their writing. We have restricted our research to documents that are not more than a decade old. Distinguishing LMS from related technologies According to Watson and Watson (2007) clarifying the use of a term enables proper differentiation from similar terms which places researchers in a position to better build their arguments. LMS is often misunderstood and the term misused. An inconsistent use of the term LMS in the literature would lead us to improperly evaluate the technology’s capabilities in advancing the application of computers to education. So what is an LMS? An LMS is the framework that handles all aspects of the learning process (Watson & Watson, 2007). It enables the management, delivery and tracking of blended learning, that is online and traditional classroom. It is also supports integration with other departments, such as human resources, accounting and so on, so that administrative and supervisory tasks can be streamlined and automated while giving management the ability to track and quantify the overall cost and impact of education (Ellis, 2009; Hall, 2002). LMS are also often confused with Learning Content Management Systems (LCMS) and Course Management Systems (CMS). Blackboard is a good example of the confusion that exists regarding these terms as it is commonly referred to in the literature as an LMS whereas the manufacturer, Blackboard LLC’s, refer to their product as a CMS for classroom and online educational assistance (Bradford, Porciello, Balkon, & Backus, 2007). In reality, a CMS could be seen as a part of an LMS but not vice versa. A CMS provides a set of tools and a framework that allows the relatively easy creation of online course content and the subsequent teaching and management of that course including various interactions with students taking the course. This differs with an LMS in that the scope of functionalities for a CMS does not encompass the entire organization, and the course-focused nature of the applications is not systemic (Watson & Watson, 2007). With regards to Learning Content Management Systems (LCMS) the key distinction between LMS and LCMS is content. LMS is learner and organization focused implying that its major concern is the logistics of managing learners, learning activities and the competency mapping of an organization. LCMS on the other hand is concerned with the challenges of creating, delivering, managing and reusing content (Anderson, 2004; Watson & Watson, 2007). Evaluating Learning Management Systems (LMS) LMS can be categorized into two: Closed Source and Open Source. Closed Source LMS refers to commercial LMS, such as WebCT, where the manufacturer does not give access to the program’s source code for custom development in its licensing agreement. Nagar (2010) found that reviews of Closed Source LMS where for the most part not very favorable for two reasons. First, educators and developers are unable to customize the package themselves. Secondly, these out of the box solutions limit the pedagogies available for instructors to use. Also, another study by Machado and Tao (2007) that compared students and faculty preference between an Open Source LMS and a Closed Source LMS found that students rated the ease of use of the Open Source LMS higher and 75% of them would prefer to use it over the Closed Source LMS. Currently there are three licensing and pricing models for Closed Source LMS: (1) direct purchase model, where the software is purchased, installed, and managed in-house; (2) third-party maintenance model, where the software is bought and installed in the institutions own data platform, but the maintenance and upgrades are managed by the LMS vendor or another third party; and (3) Software as a Service (SaaS) model, where the software is paid for per use and accessed over the Internet. Here the software is housed and managed remotely by the vendor of another third party (Ellis, 2009). On the other hand, Open Source LMS refers to those LMS released under the GNU General Public License which gives educators and developers access to the program’s source code for custom development. Grob, Bensberg and Dewanto (2004) found that even though Open Source solutions offered significant financial advantages compared to commercial products, the rate of the platform diffusion was low. This was largely because the critical success factor for their adoption required developers or educators with profound skills in software engineering who would could manage the complexity involved in self-modifying of the Open Source LMS. Other attributes to look out for in a good LMS are scalability, usability, interoperability, high availability, stability and security (Ellis, 2009; Hall, 2002). Scalability refers to the LMS’s ability to expand to meet future growth. The expansion is in the size of the student body as well as the volume of instruction. Usability refers to ease-of-use, ease of access, delivery and presentation of material and support of a host of automated and personalized services, such as role-specific and self-paced learning. Interoperability refers to the LMS offering support to the major learning standards, content from different sources and multiple vendors’ hardware/software solutions (Hall, 2002). High availability refers to the robustness of the LMS to serve the various needs of thousands of instructors, administrators, learners and content builders simultaneously. Stability refers to the LMS infrastructure being reliable 24x7 all year round. Lastly, security refers to the ability to selectively limit and control access to online content, resources and back-end functions, both internally and externally, for its diverse user community (Ellis, 2009; Hall, 2002). Change Management in implementing and/or upgrading LMS Introducing a learning management system in any institution raises a number of complex issues that involve institutional responses at different levels to the adoption and diffusion of technological change. Naturally, this calls for a broad theoretical ICT adoption and implementation framework. Benson and Palaskas (2006) argued that the RIPPLES (Resources, Infrastructure, People, Policies, Learning, Evaluation and Support) model was the best suited for this role especially where the LMS implementation is for a new system. Sallum (n.d.) on the other hand advocated for the use of an adaptation of Rogers’ diffusion theory for a similar exercise. In the cases where an upgrade is involved, we found Sturgess and Nouwens's (2004) use of a participant action evaluation process to be the better alternative to the previous two. First time LMS implementation For a first time LMS implementation, Benson and Palaskas (2006) advocated for the use of the RIPPLES model because it comprehensively covers a broad range of factors. The factors that this model covers are what give rise to its acronym. RIPPLES model addresses: the fiscal resources associated with innovation adoption; the institution’s infrastructure namely, the hardware, software, facilities and network capabilities in support of teaching resources, production resources, communication resources, student resources and administrative resources; the needs, hopes, values, skills and experiences of the people involved; institutional policies and procedures; the relationship between the technology and learning outcomes; evaluation and review (both summative and on-going), including the impact of the technology on learning goals; and the support systems and scaffolding required to ensure successful implementation (Benson & Palaskas, 2006, pp. 549–550). Although the RIPPLES model boasts of being comprehensive, we find Sallum's (n.d.) adaptation of Rogers’ diffusion theory to be more direct and easier to use in a first time LMS implementation activity. Sallum focuses on putting in place an effective change management strategy. This strategy has six steps which aim to maintain and manage change through the involvement, acceptance, and participation of the stakeholders who would benefit and be the most affected by it. The first step is to identify a champion for change. This person(s) would preferably be an individual(s) with the power or backing needed to promote the initiative at higher levels within the organization when need be in support of the LMS implementation effort. Step two involves realigning of the existing resources. Here, the organization needs to come up with a staff professional development plan. This enables the organization identify skills gaps in order to develop an effective training program that will prepare staff for the challenges arising from the change effort (Sallum, n.d.). Step three calls for promoting e-learning itself and not the new tools. This could be achieved by increasing the number of course offerings and traffic to the LMS. Step four involves setting standards and modeling innovation behavior. In step five, the persons leading the change effort seek lateral buy in from the organization’s leadership. The final step, involves partnering with designers and subject matter experts so as to create Computer Based Learning modules that support good instructional design methodology (Sallum, n.d.). The thinking here is that these modules would promote the desire among different stakeholders to acquire the necessary skills to produce effective training and use different technologies provided by the LMS. Upgrading an LMS For an organisation seeking to change from one major enterprise LMS to another the key elements to take into account are on the one hand the interactions between humans, structures, tasks and technology subsystems within that organisation. On the other hand, one must also take into account the goals of the organisation and the contingencies of the environment in which the organisation is operating (Sturgess & Nouwens, 2004). Use of a participant action evaluation process in such cases is both effective and quick to complete because the organisation begins by identifying the major stakeholder groups to understand better the perspectives of each of their sub-cultures and the labour they each contribute towards their enterprise (Sturgess & Nouwens, 2004). The involvement of these critical interest groups in the evaluation and the decision-making process leads to general acceptance of the decision to change and to undertake the work associated with the change. Sturgess and Nouwens (2004) approach almost resembles Sallum's (n.d.) in that it segregates the process of change in a phased manner. Sturgess and Nouwens (2004) stated that there has to be a three-way balance among the sub-cultural group interests as follows. First there is an interest group to drive change, then seeking a bottom-up participant action and lastly seeking top-down support for change from senior management. The influence of LMS on teaching and learning LMS are not pedagogically neutral technologies, but rather, through their very design, they influence and guide teaching (Coates et al., 2005). As these systems become more incorporated into everyday academic practices, they will define and shape how academics learn to teach; more so for the academics with only a few years of teaching experience. It is for this reason that Nagar (2010) stated that organizations should not take the decision of which LMS to settle for use by their instructors lightly. Often many features and tools of LMS are left unused. According to Govindasamy (2002) this is a terrible waste of resources since these tools account for the total cost of implementing the LMS. Worse still, these misunderstood tools could be used wrongly such that they hamper learning. What is clear here is that in order for any e-Learning implementation exercise to be successful, it has to be rooted in strong pedagogical foundations. Secondly, instructors should be provided with guidelines on how to design, develop, deliver, and manage pedagogically sound teaching or learning materials (Govindasamy, 2002). In addition to their widespread effects on the structure of university teaching, LMS also, obviously, have an effect on student learning and study habits. In order to identify some of these effects, Coates et al. (2005) called for analyzing of the general dynamics of students’ engagement with their institutions. LMS could influence students’ confidence with and motivation for learning, or their understanding of the significance of what they have learned via these systems. Unfortunately, research on the understanding of students’ use of or attitudes towards LMS is still very sparse. Two areas where the influence of LMS on teaching and learning can be best evaluated are distance education and blended learning. A basic definition of distance education is the form of learning that takes place when a teacher and student are separated by physical distance necessitating for use of technology to bridge the instructional gap (Willis, n.d.). On the other hand, blended learning refers to the ongoing convergence between the traditional face-to-face learning environment with distributed learning environments via use of distributed information and communication technologies (Graham, 2004). In the next sections we look at how LMS has influenced teaching and learning with reference to these two paradigms. LMS, distance education and blended learning The rapid technological change and shifting market conditions that supported the growth of Learning Management Systems (LMS) has also increased the challenge placed on academic institutions of higher learning to widen their target market through the provision of distance education. Education journals and newsletters have continued publishing articles praising advancement’s in educational technology and the prudence of offering distance learning. The proliferation of these messages have put competitive pressure for academic institutions to either “get with the program” or risk losing out to their more technologically and bottom-line oriented peers (Bower, 2001). However, as university administrators have embraced this drive towards distance learning several questions have been raised by both researchers and university faculty (Bower, 2001; Coates et al., 2005; Nagar, 2010). According to Coates et al. (2005) more research needs to be conducted to understand their effect on student engagement and learning. Bower (2001) analyzed there effect on faculty and the reasons behind why they are not taking it up as enthusiastically as expected, and Nagar (2010) looked at their effect on pedagogy. Current distance learning uses tools that focus on communication and multimedia presentation technologies (Chang, 2003). Here one finds use of Web-based course materials, video conferencing, video-on-demand lectures, and so on. More precisely, Willis (n.d.) grouped the technological options that are currently used in distance education into four: voice (tapes, telephone, audio-conferences), video (film, video DVDs), print (texts books, workbooks, guides) and data (computer-assisted, computer-managed or computer-aided applications). On the other hand, Graham's (2004) definition of blended learning points at the ongoing convergence between the traditional face-to-face learning environment with distributed learning environments via use of distributed information and communication technologies as the core of blended learning. From these two observations we could categorize modern distance education as a form of blended learning. We shall therefore discuss these two items using a single term coined specifically for this discussion; that is blended-distance education or blended-distance learning. There are five major players in the distance education enterprise: faculty, students, facilitators, support staff and administrators. Our discussion shall focus only on the first two to keep in line with our aim to understand the effect of this enterprise on teaching and learning. Nevertheless, we are not belittling the role played by the other three actors in the distance learning activity. Drivers behind blended-distance learning According to Graham (2004) people opt for blended-distance learning for three reasons: increased access or flexibility, increased cost effectiveness and improved pedagogy. The first two reasons could be answered by applying the arguments we had earlier raised about why organizations adopt LMS. One of the core reasons for the establishment of distributed learning environments was to increase the accessibility of learning to for example those disadvantaged by limited time, distance or physical disability (Willis, n.d.). Blending in learning in distance education becomes especially important because as much as learners want the convenience offered by a distributed environment they also do not want to sacrifice the social interaction and human touch they are accustomed to within a face-to-face learning environment (Graham, 2004). Blended-distance learning enables learners to experience the best of both worlds. Cost-effectiveness, on the other hand, is realised largely through the scale economies that blended-distance learning systems permit. With these systems an organisation can reach a large, globally dispersed audience in a short period of time with consistent and semi-personal content delivery (Graham, 2004). However, realising these cost savings could take time given that some of the systems required are very costly. In 2006, the American Council on Education estimated the costs associated with higher educational telecommunications to be US$ 7 billion dollars. Also, one of the popular course management systems used for blended-distance learning, Blackboard, has subscription licenses that may go from US$ 200,000 to US$ 400,000 per year (Bradford et al., 2007). The ability of blended learning systems to improve pedagogy is still largely theoretical. We argue this way because the proponents of this argument use the capacity that blended learning tools avail to instructors with regards to enhancing their courses with some level of technology. The question though is not whether blended learning provides the capacity; rather it is whether instructors have the know-how to use these tools to improve their pedagogy. This leads us to ask what issues or challenges are faced when blending? Graham (2004) identified six major issues that are relevant to designing blended learning systems, namely: (1) the role of live interaction, (2) the role of learner choice and self-regulation, (3) models for support and training, (4) finding balance between innovation and production, (5) cultural adaptation, and (6) dealing with the digital divide. Distance learning and faculty According to Bower (2001) university faculty are not opposed to participating in blended-distance learning, rather it is the manner in which the universities implemented the programs that fortified their resistance to change. According to her, faculty have specifically expressed concern over the lack of adequate institutional support, the drastic change in interpersonal relations, and their concern for the effect of distance learning on the quality of education given. The inadequacy of institutional support is manifested through a survey conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics that found that 40 percent of the institutions offering distance learning courses asked their faculty to teach these courses without providing training opportunities (Bower, 2001). That survey did not address the depth or extent of the training that was provided. Bower (2001) argued that faculty are accustomed to being the experts and therefore where they may have misgivings over their competence because of lack of adequate training they would shy away from that activity. With regards to changes in interpersonal relations, Bower (2001) argued that most faculty are trained in ‘hand to hand’ teaching where they have learned to use contact or feedback to help them gauge the clarity of their communications. The technology interface of blended and distance learning often denies them of one of the most gratifying aspects of teaching, which is personal interaction. In as much as modern distance learning offers online chat sessions with cameras and voice, it is not quite the same as face-to-face. The occasional face-to-face sessions that some blended-distance learning courses incorporate could help mitigate this challenge. Lastly, faculty are also concerned over the quality aspect of blended-distance education. Here Bower's (2001) argument is that blended-distance education technologies created a major change in the way instruction needs to be delivered which calls for new skills for both the instructor and the student. Given that most faculty are currently over the age of 45 and that they have taught a number of years within the traditional classroom setting (Bower, 2001), it may take some time to bring them up to speed with the skills required to effectively teach in this new paradigm. We believe this point is better illustrated when studying the effects of distance education on student learning in the section that follows. Distance learning and students Coates et al. (2005) identified that most of the discussion about LMS occurred without consideration of their effects on students. The scarcity of research in this area prevents us from fully understanding the effects of blended systems on student study habits and learning. Bower (2001), however, does raise the issue by reminding us the importance of student’s learning from other students through group tasks and cooperative activities. Without these student-to-student interactions the quality of education is lowered. Yes, the current LMSs (read blended learning systems) do provide tools that facilitate such student interactions for a distance education environment. However, can we confidently say that the quality of interaction is the same to a face-to-face one? According to Bower (2001), to create an equivalent experience in the distance education environment would require more planning on the part of the instructor and more effort on the part of the student. This leads us to another question. Are blended-distance learning students adequately prepared for the extra effort needed on their part? Conclusion From this paper it is clear that LMS offer numerous advantages to both academia and industry. Much research on these systems has focused on what they are, how to evaluate which system to take up and how to implement them within different organisations. Further we learn that all the subsystems within an educational institution need to change in a coherent way if the institution is to make effective use of this new technology. The challenge though appears to be how to encourage academic staff to make both efficient and pedagogically effective use of these systems for teaching. Instructors have the tendency to revert to the pedagogy they normally use in face-to-face or distance education and this often negates the benefits gained by having an LMS. That said, as LMS become more established in teaching programmes, one area that needs more research is their effects on students’ engagement with fundamental learning activities. Coates et al. (2005) outlined a few pertinent questions such as: whether students use LMS to negotiate more nuanced forms of involvement with their university study, or do LMS encourage increasingly independent and perhaps isolated forms of study? Finally, with the growth in blended-distance learning are academic institutions adequately preparing both faculty and students for the extra effort needed to retain the quality of the education? The bottom line in this debate is not the advancements in technology but how effectively it is used to enhance teaching and learning. REFERENCES Anderson, M. (2004). What’s Ahead for Learning Management Systems in Higher Education? Distance Learning, 1(4), 47. Benson, R., & Palaskas, T. (2006). Introducing a new learning management system: An institutional case study. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 22(4), 548–567. Bower, B. L. (2001). Distance Education: Facing the Faculty Challenge. 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