Teaching Online in a Developing Country Context

Abstract

This study explored lecturer perceptions of their use of a Learning Management System (LMS) at a rural university in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The study took place just prior to the COVID-19 lockdown and provides a brief insight into the thoughts of lecturers at this time. A sample of 141 lecturers from six faculties at the rural university completed an online questionnaire. A factor analysis (using principal component analysis and varimax rotation) of 46 items on lecturers’ perceptions of the LMS yielded six factors: their perceptions of usefulness, performance expectancy, self-efficacy, technical support, effort, and institutional support using the LMS. The reliability of factors was confirmed, while group differences were determined with independent sample t-tests and ANOVAs. The results indicate that although lecturers found the LMS to be beneficial, they were reluctant to use it when teaching face-to-face. There was a large discrepancy between the perceived usefulness and their actual use of the LMS. They perceived the LMS to be very useful but found technical- and institutional support to be low, which in turn strongly influenced their low self-efficacy (confidence) to use it. It emerged that increased training and support for lecturers would address both work performance and the confidence of lecturers using the platform. It was also evident that each academic department requires a dedicated teaching and learning consultant and that a centralized teaching and learning division may not be the answer. The one academic department with their own dedicated consultant was the best prepared for the demands of online teaching when the need arose.