Learning Management System Adoption in ...

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Learning Management System Adoption in Universities-Perception about Moodle as a . . .

23 Learning Management System Adoption in Universities-Perception about Moodle as a Pedagogical Tool in a Private University in India Kumar, D* & Samalia, H.V**

ABSTRACT

Academic and professional organizations agree that using web based learning management systems (LMS) can offer sound pedagogical benefits to all the stakeholders involved in teaching learning process, especially students’ community. These systems provide new ways and methods in transmitting course based information to the students thereby making teaching learning process more interesting, better student’s engagement and better collaboration. Moodle is one of the most popular, open source e-learning platforms designed to provide educators, administrators and learners with a single robust, secure and integrated system to create personalised learning environment.It allows users to be active learners. This study is aimed at investigating the factorsthat lead to adoption of Moodle based online Learning Management System (LMS) by the students. This study tested five hypotheses on determinants affecting online LMS adoption by 100 students with empirical data collectedthrough self administered questionnaire. The finding revealed that adoption of online LMS by students is affected by perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and computer self efficacy. This study contributes to enhancing understanding of determinants of adoption of online LMS by studentsof a private university in India. Keywords: Moodle, Technology Acceptance Model(TAM), Learning management system(LMS), eUniv.

Introduction Online education is defined as an approach to teaching and learning that utilizes internet technologies to communicate and collaborate in an educational context. It supplements traditional classroom training with webenabled components and learning environments where the educational process is experienced online (Blackboard 1998).Over the past several years, institutions of higher education have increasingly invested in information and communication technologies * **

(ICT) to provide a virtual learning environment designed to enhance student learning and to assist in the teaching and administration of the course itself by teachers & instructors. University and other instructors are striving to find ways to help their students improve their learning skills both inside and outside of the classroom. Advancements in the field of Internet and web technologies are providing numerous opportunities for instructors to make online demonstrations and presentations of the courses, video lectures as well as facilitate and

L.M.Thapar School of Management, Thapar University, Patiala. Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management, Shillong.

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guide students through the process of analyzing real world cases, gathering information, testing validity and applicability, and creating a very conducive teaching learning environment. Moreover, students are also going to be empowered to use Webenabled technologies to access course materials, contact instructors, submit assignments online, give online tests & examinations and collaborate on team projects. All these developments are leading to a shift in the role of universities as a provider of knowledge to create an environment that the students can explore, discover and learn by themselves. This study is aimed at investigating the factors that lead to adoption of Moodle based online Learning Management System (LMS) by the students. Detail about usage & importance of Moodle as a pedagogical tool in universities and other academic institutions is provided in the first section. A brief introduction about the LMS used in the study i.e. eUniv is provided in the next section followed by research model and hypotheses of this study. Research methodology used in the study is discussed in the next section. Data analysis and results are provided in the second last section followed by discussion and implications of the study.

Use of Moodle as a Pedagogical Means An e-learning system provides different kind of services that are essential for handling all aspects of a course through a single, perceptive and reliable web interface. Such services include: (1) course content management, (2) synchronous and asynchronous communication, (3) the uploading of content, (4) the return of students’ assignments (5) peer assessment, (6) student attendance, (7) the collection and organization of students’ grades, (8) online questionnaires, (9) online quizzes, (10) tracking tools and (11) discussion forum etc. (Sumak et al. 2011). Web-enabled course management systems are rapidly becoming an important part of academic systems in higher education. Several learning management systems such as Blackboard, WebCT and Desire@Learn, and Chalkpad are available commercially in the market. There are also numerous open-source learning management systems available such as Moodle, Vol. 6-7

Coursework, ATutor and Interact. Moodle has been reported as one of the most popular online learning management system(LMS) (Suleiman & Abdu, 2012, Chewe&Chitumbo, 2012). Moodle which stands for Modular Object Oriented Dynamic Learning Environmenthas been developed by Martin Dougiamas as part of his PhD in Education thesis (Dougiamas, 2003). Moodle has been built on the philosophy of maximum instructor control and minimal administrator control (Moodle, 2010). Different activities which are integral part of teaching learning process such as video lectures, assignments, forums, wikis, blogs, quizzes, tracking, etc. are provided and supported by Moodle. Moodle can be used as a tool for delivering content to students and assess learning using assignments or quizzes and, more interestingly, it can be used to build rich collaborative learning communities. Student perception is one of the very crucial factors in the successful adoption of web based learning management system such as Moodle and more specifically eUniv in this study under consideration. As highlighted in the Technology Adoption Model(TAM), user perception about acceptance and subsequent adoption of a new technology or innovation is going to be influenced by perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use along with some other external factors. These factors will lead to forming a positive attitude toward using that technology and will ultimately results in the actual use of the same. Several studies about on line learning have been carried out. Palmer and Holt (2009) found that students gave higher importance and satisfaction ratings to elements of online learning than staff and the study further revealed that students also feel that online learning enhanced their learning. Terslios et al. (2011) revealed in their study that students perceived the relation of ease of use and usefulness as a key factor for adopting Moodle. Sumak et al. (2011) exposed in their study that the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are factors that directly affect students’ attitudes toward using Moodle, where as perceived usefulness is the strongest and most significant determinant of students’ attitudes toward using Moodle. The result of a study carried out by Kilic(2014) shows that Moodle provide opportunities for teaching and learning

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process even in case of an earthquake. It is further revealed in this study that the relationships among computer self efficacy, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use issignificant and this result is consistent with the literature. A study carried out by Sanchez &Hueros (2012) is aimed at improving understanding of the motivational factors behind student satisfaction, or dissatisfaction, with the web based learning platform such as Moodle. It is revealed in this study that technical support has a direct effect on perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. Teo et al. (2011) conducted a study to assess e-learning acceptance by students at three public universities in Thailand. Results showed that university students in Thailand have an above average level of e-learning acceptance. Pavlic et al. (2011) investigated the positive and negative aspects of an e-learning system called Moodle. The study focused on what students felt was missing and what they thought were the most important and beneficial features for an e-learning system used for online learning. In the case of importance, learning material availability was considered the most important factor that students expressed and in the case of missing features, satisfaction with the system was the main concern. A research work carried out by Tarhini et al. (2015) is intended to examine the factors that may affect the acceptance and adoption of RSS feeds on Blackboard system (a virtual learning system) among Lebanese students using TAM. The results of the structural model revealed that perceived usefulness and attitude towards using online systemare significant factors in impacting students’ behavioural intention towards using RSS feeds on Blackboard, and accounted for 38 % of the variance of behavioural intention which is lower than that of TAM.

eUniv- A Moodle based LMS Present study is carried out in the Faculty of Management Sciences & Liberal Arts at Shoolini University. Shoolini University is a rapidly growing non-profit multi-disciplinary private university which was established in 2009. An online learning management system based on Moodle which is named as eUniv was made open for use in 2013 on a trial basis. It has been gaining momentum ever since and is fully functional in Management and Vol. 6-7

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Computer Science departments. In the current phase of eUniv, all students (approx. 2000) are registered on eUniv through which they gain access to all the courses they are taking in that particular semester. Course material of about 100 courses running in the university is uploaded for student’s use on the eUniv. All the courses offered in the School of Business Management and School of Electrical and Computer Engineering are uploaded on eUniv. This justifies the selection of sample from the School of Business Management. The online courses made available to students through eUniv platform serve as a supplement to classroom teaching, wherein the student gets free access to the study material, PPTs, audiovisuals, video lectures etc. It also serves as a one point solution for a student to know his current standing in various internal assessments like assignments, quizzes, surprise tests, etc.

Research Model and Hypotheses of this Study Adoption of an e-learning system by learners may be treated as technology adoption. The most common theory in the field of IT/IS (information technology/information system) adoption is the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Davis (1986) proposed TAM to explain the potential user’s behavioural intentions when using a technological innovation, because it explains the causal links between beliefs (the usefulness of a system and ease of use of a system) and users’ attitudes, intentions, and the actual usage of the system. According to the technology acceptance model, overall user attitude is the main determinant of actual system use. Attitude, in turn, is a function of two major beliefs which are perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Design features influence perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use and these features are not linked directly to attitude or behaviour. So these design features fall in the category of external variables in the model. The four components which are selected in this study include perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, computer self-efficacy and attitude. Computer self-efficacy is used as one of the external variable effecting student’s perception towards using Moodle.The conceptual framework based on TAM model is shown in Fig. 1.

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Perceived Usefulness (PU) Attitude towards Using Moodle based LMS

Computer Self Efficacy (CSE)

Behavioural Intention to Use Moodle based LMS

Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU)

Figure 1: Research model of this study (Davis, 1989) In accordance with the research objectives andinconsistency with the previous research on TAM and related work this study tested the following hypotheses: H1: Computer self efficacy is positively correlated with perceived usefulness of Moodle based LMS. H2: Computer self efficacy is positively correlated with perceived ease of using Moodle based LMS. H3: Perceived ease of use is positively correlated with perceived usefulness of Moodle based LMS. H4: Perceived ease of use is positively correlated with attitude towards using Moodle based LMS. H5: Perceived usefulness is positively correlated with attitude towards using Moodle based LMS.

Methodology Context and participants Participants of this study consist of 100 studentsfrom the School of Business Management at Shoolini University, Solan, H.P.This school of the university was selected because most of the teachers are regularly using Moodle based online learning system named eUniv for their respective course(s) administration. Moreover, course material of all the course is uploaded on eUnivplatform by all the instructors. Students in this school are also actively using eUniv tool to enhance their learning and complete their course based Vol. 6-7

assignments and quizzes etc. Course outline, content material, assignments, quizzes, forums, web resources and tutorials can be foundonline for all the courses which are offered by the school. Students are encouraged to download content material, send assignments, and interact throughforum with instructors or friends.All the students selected for this study have experience in using eUniv.

Instrument Development Empirical data was collected from a questionnaire instruments comprised of 20 items, using a 5-point Likert scale. Response to every item is based on scale from 1 to 5, wherein 1 = StronglyAgree, 2 = Agree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Disagree and 5 = Strongly Disagree. Low score shows positive perception towards eUniv. This instrument was to getinformation about the perception of students on the adoption ofeUniv in Shoolini University. The subscale of the instrument consists of i) perceived usefulness ii)computer self-efficacy, iii) perceived ease of use and iv) attitude. Perceived usefulness refers asto how much the user believes that he or she can get help and benefits his or her performancefrom the use ofeUniv. Self-efficacy refers to confidence shown by users in their own ability to utilize eUniv. Perceived ease of use denotes to how easier the user willperceive in using eUniv. Attitude is the degree to which the user is interested ineUniv.

Sampling Process Sample frame used in the study consists of

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students that use Moodle (in the form of eUniv) in the School of Business Management at the Faculty of Management Sciences & Liberal Arts, Shoolini University. Convenience sampling was used for the purpose of selecting respondents. Students were approached during their regular classes in the classrooms, wherein they were detailed about the objectives of the study. Those who volunteered to participate in the study were handed over the questionnaire and were asked to return the same after carefully filling all the detail in it. Total 250 questionnaires were distributed among the students in this way. Finally 100 correctly filled in questionnaires were received with a response rate of 40%.

Data Analysis & Results In this section, the data analysis and results

are given. In the first subsection, the profile of the respondents is presented. In the following subsection, the methods for measurement instrument validity and reliability assessment are explained. Finally perception of students toward adopting Moodle (eUniv) was analyzed using regression analysis.

Demographic Characteristics The characteristics of the respondents are presented in Table 1. 70% of the respondents were male. 45 % of the respondents were in the age group of 21-22 years. 57% respondents use their personal laptops to access and use Moodle followed by 31% students who use their personal mobile phones to access Moodle. Only 12% respondents use university computer to access Moodle. 57% of respondents are using Moodle for 3-5 courses.

Table 1: Demographic Characteristics of Respondents Demographic Characteristics

Frequency

Percentage

Male

70

70.0

Female

30

30.0

18 -20 years

14

14.0

21-22 years

45

45.0

23-24 years

29

29.0

24-25 years

10

10.0

Above 26 years

2

2.0

Personal Laptop

57

57.0

Personal Mobile Phone

31

31.0

University Computer

12

12.0

Number of courses where Moodle

1

2

2.0

is used

2

9

9.0

(in the current academic year)

3-5

57

57.0

5-8

26

26.0

8-13

6

6.0

Above 13

0

0.0

Gender Age

Device used for accessing Moodle

Reliability and Validity of the Instrument The validity of the instrument was determined and confirmed by a panel consisting of faculty members from the School of Business Management in the Faculty of Management Sciences & Liberal Arts. The overall internal Vol. 6-7

consistency of the instrument was 0.91, as measured by Cronbach Alpha. According to Fraenkel & Wallen (2005), alpha value of 0.7, is suitable for making inference to a group. Therefore, all of the Cronbach’s alpha scores for the constructs in the survey are well above the acceptable point and are reliable.

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Table 2: Reliability analysis of research variables Variables

Number of Measures

Alpha value

Mean

Perceived Usefulness

6

.83

2.35

Computer Self-Efficacy

6

.72

2.52

Perceived ease of use

4

.84

2.07

Attitude

4

.82

2.18

Results Regression analysis was done using SPSS 16.0. As shown in Table 3, the model explained 57.8% of the variance in student’s adoption of Moddle based LMS i.e. eUniv (56% when adjusted for the population). Highly significant

F value as shown in the Table 4, indicates very good model fit (F=66.42, p< .001). As given in Table 5, all the five hypotheses concerning adoption of Moodle by students are supported. The findings are discussed in the following section.

Table 3: Model Summary Std. Error of the Model

R

R Square .760a

1

Adjusted R Square

.578

Estimate

.569

.63711

Table 4: Regression Analysis of Variance

Model 1

Sum of Squares

df

Mean Square

F

Regression

53.924

2

26.962

Residual

39.373

97

.406

Sig.

66.424

.000a

Table 5: Regression Results of each Hypothesis

Number

Hypothesis

Standardized

t-value

Sig.

Supported

Coefficients (β) H1

CSE  PU

.592

7.26

.000

Supported

(p