Course Management System Research Articles

The perspective of students and faculty members on the efficiency and usability of e-learning course at Ajman university: A case study

While there is much in the literature on the usability of the Course Management System (CMS) itself, there is little that looks at content of these CMS. This study aims to investigate the usability of the e-learning courses in Ajman University from the perspective of students and the faculty members. The e-learning usability evaluation questionnaire developed by Zaharias (2009) has been used as the main instrument for data collections in this study. Semi-structured interview is another instrument that has been used to investigate the e-Learning usability evaluation. This form has been used to collect the qualitative data from the faculty members. Research results revealed that the attitude of the majority respondents toward the usability of e-learning courses in Ajman University in general is strongly positive. Most of the participants in this study view the e-learning courses in Ajman university easy to use, easy to learn and have usable user interface. However, the first year students hesitate to express firm opinion about usability of e-learning courses in Ajman University. The study concludes and recommends that there is a great need to have more training for freshman students on how to use Moodle, in addition, advanced training sessions for instructors to improve their skills on how to use Moodle more effectively and utilize its all features to make more effective usage and easier ways of ongoing interaction with all students.

Student Perception on the Extent of Use of Instructional Materials in an Open Distant Learning (ODL) Platform in Database Management System Course

Student centered pedagogical approach are already implemented in higher institutions in the Philippines. The course utilized the ODL platform technology as a tool in the delivery of the subject Instructional materials (IM’s) for fast and efficient delivery of the different lessons in relation to the course objectives. This study employed quantitative research approach using descriptive design.The respondents of the study are the 3 rd year Bachelor of Science in Information Technology(BSIT) students enrolled in the course Database Management System at Leyte Normal University. A total of 50 students who were identified to answer the survey questionnaire on the extent use of instructional material in teaching Database Management System course. The result shows that the respondents perceived that instructional materials are very useful with a grand mean of 4.50. This implies that the lessons included in the instructional material helps the student understand the topics in Database Management System. Hence, the student finds the instructional material and the ODL platform as engaging, encourages independent learning and effective.

Accessibility in Online Courses: Understanding the Deaf Learner

Online education is more popular and widespread than ever before, serving millions of students each year. These online course offerings have great potential to reach new and diverse populations of students who might otherwise not have access to those learning opportunities. At the same time, inherent barriers exist in an online delivery format that can disadvantage some groups of students, in particular deaf students. Typical accessibility efforts often fail to consider different layers of access that a student must navigate in order to fully access course content. This article proposes a model which describes the three barriers deaf students might encounter in an online learning situation: learning management system (LMS) barriers, course content and materials barriers and communication barriers. Recommendations and considerations are provided to better serve this unique population of students across all layers and points of access.

On the Edge: How to Provide Course- and Program-Integrated Library Support Without Being Embedded

Distance librarians working with an online doctoral program at Johns Hopkins University are asked by both students and faculty to provide a large amount of library support – without being embedded into the curriculum or the individual courses. Program administrators and faculty were resistant to allow librarians into the course management system (CMS), denying them access to discussion boards, assignment updates, and course content, but still expected a high level of student support. Over a three-year period, librarians respond by creating a “halo” of library services to support students at point of need that existed outside of the CMS, but was still highly integrated into the program. Librarians explore the importance of scaffolding and linking disparate services to complement each other, building a halo of support. Student need is at the center of the plan, focusing on collaborative teaching and reflection as well as student centered learning.

The Effect of Mobile Learning Approach on University Students' Academic Success for Database Management Systems Course

This article investigates the effect of mobile learning support on students' academic success on a database management systems (DBMS) course. The research was carried out with 36 students attending a state university in Turkey. In this study, a mixed method was used, which includes both quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques. For the quantitative data, the study was conducted in accordance with the pre-test and post-test-based two group quasi-experimental model. For the qualitative data, the descriptive analysis technique was used. The independent sample t-test and paired simple t-test were employed in the analysis phase. According to the findings, mobile learning positively affected students' academic achievement on the DBMS course, in that the students supported by mobile learning were more successful than students supported only by face-to-face training method. Finally, it is seen that the students have emphasized themes of motivation, 1-1 access, and an interest in terms of the effect of m-learning approach on academic success.

The effects of using Facebook as a discussion forum in an online principles of economics course: Results of a randomized controlled trial

This paper makes a comparison between using social media or traditional Course Management System (CMS) discussion groups in a fully online Principles of Microeconomics course. Students were randomly assigned to a discussion forum in either Facebook or CMS to discern a difference in the level of engagement and learning outcomes. The popular hypothesis is that students using social media have greater engagement with the class and higher learning outcomes relative to students using a CMS platform. Reasons for the positive effect include the ease of use and student familiarity with social media, which allows them to make more connections and gain a deeper understanding of the course material through discussions with others. Contrary to the widely held view, the results of this study suggest that participation in the treatment Facebook group is associated with declining student engagement and a reduction in the semester course average of 3 to 5 points on a 100-point scale.

I112] e-Learning in medical physics

Purpose Medical Physics is one of the first professions to develop and introduce e-Learning, what resulted in the first EU Award for education “Leonardo Da Vinci”, 2004 [1] . For about 20 years the profession developed many e-learning projects. These were pivotal for the double growth of the profession in this period. The presentation aims to give an overview of the progress so far and possible ways ahead, focussing on the expected global tripling of medical physicists in the next 20 years. Methods The paper presents briefly the e-learning methods used by some specific projects; the development process; the testing/implementation of e-learning in the profession. It also includes user feedback and views for the future implementation of e-learning in medical physics. Results The outcomes of the first main international e-learning projects include the first e-learning materials in the profession (which are also some of the first e-learning materials with ISBN in the world); the development of a system for assessment of such results (including the first e-learning conference in the profession); the development of the first e-Encyclopaedia of Medical Physics and associated with it Multilingual Dictionary of Terms (translated in 30 languages). Due to the excellent IT skills in the profession, many other e-learning activities have been and are being developed all over the world. These could be classified in three main categories: Building modules; Developing simulations; Implementing Course-management systems. The presentation will show sample e-learning projects from all these categories. Conclusions e-Learning has now a steady place in medical physics – this is imperative for a dynamic profession and needs to be supported at all levels. One of the main objectives of IOMP for the launch of the Educational/Professional Journal Medical Physics International was to provide a platform for exchange of expertise and ideas in the field of education, specifically e-learning. Our experience for more than 20 years shows that this is of great importance, as often the life of the e-learning products is short and these need quick and effective exploitation.

Just a Tool: Instructors’ Attitudes and Use of Course Management Systems for Online Writing Instruction

Abstract This study uses interview and observation data from first-year composition instructors to determine how instructors’ experiences with course management systems (CMSs) influence their teaching practices within those spaces. I determine that although instructors recognize the potential significance of CMSs, there is still a great disparity between instructors’ practices in face-to-face and CMS spaces with many instructors failing to see their use of CMSs as part of their pedagogical practice.

Implementation Of Web 2.0-Supported Flipped Learning In The Learning Management Systems Course: An Experience From Turkey

Due to rapidly developing technology, the learning needs of the new generation have begun to vary, leading to an equally rapid renewal in learning and instruction. Renewal has emerged in the form of hardware and software integrated into education and the testing of new methods and models. Flipped learning is one of the new methods that have become popular especially in recent years. The model, which reverses traditional learning and instruction processes, is based on learning that can take place both, at home and in the classroom. Short videos and class notes prepared by the instructor to facilitate learning are shared with students through an online platform. In the classroom, individual and group activities are carried out to monitor learning and are focused on the areas that students are lacking in. Just as in flipped learning, Internet technologies are also a powerful tool for instructors in traditional learning. Thanks to the wide variety of Web 2.0 technologies that the new generation are familiar with, they are easily integrated into education. This study aims to encourage the integration of Web 2.0-supported flipped learning in the Learning Management Systems course and provide the views of students regarding the model. With this objective in mind, a content analysis through qualitative approach with an 11-week application was carried out with 55 thirdyear students in the Department of Computer and Instructional Technologies Education under the Faculty of Education at Trakya University, Edirne, Turkey. During the application, two Web 2.0 tools, Padlet and Facebook, were used to support instruction. At the end of the semester, students were asked to fill out a Course Evaluation Form which was prepared by the researcher and consisted of 6 open-ended questions. According to the result, majority of the students expressed positive views on the use of Padlet and Facebook in classroom. Findings indicated that flipped learning help students in sharing ideas and information with peers. Moreover, flipped learning generates an active teaching- learning environment which allows students to come to class with preparations on the lesson. The findings have been discussed through evaluation within the context of Technology Acceptance Model. Keywords

The Effects of Using Facebook As a Discussion Forum in an Online Principles of Economics Course: Results of a Randomized Trial

This paper makes a comparison between the use of social media and traditional Course Management System (CMS) discussion groups in fully online Microeconomic Principles courses. Students within the same sections of the classes were randomly assigned to a discussion forum in either Facebook or in the CMS (Blackboard) to discern a difference in the level of engagement (as measured by frequency and length of posts as well as rated post content) and learning outcomes (measured by overall course average). The popular hypothesis is that students using social media (Facebook discussion group here) have greater engagement with the class and higher learning outcomes relative to students not using that platform for coursework (the CMS control group here) because of the ease of use and student familiarity with social media, which allows them to make more connections and gain a deeper understanding of the course material through discussions with others. The results of this study suggest that membership in the treatment group (Facebook) is associated with declining student engagement and a reduction in the semester course average of 3 to 4 points on a 100-point scale.

Teaching Dance with Online Course Management Systems

As a result of easier access to and functionality of the Internet, online course management systems (CMSs) began to be developed in the mid-1990s. These technological tools were created to fill a n...

Click to save and return to course: online education, adjunctification, and the disciplining of academic labour

There has been little analysis of how neoliberal adjunctification and online education (OLE) are shaping a new academic division of labour in US colleges and universities. OLE rationalises academic labour by separating it from the delivery of educational content while transforming learning into the self-disciplined completion of sequential tasks (e.g. ‘competency-based learning’) under the panoptic surveillance of online course management systems (CMS). OLE is subtly shifting the very hidden curriculum of higher education to meet the needs of global capital for a more effectively disciplined labour force that can work contingently and remotely with little or no overt coercion. This analysis of the process by which OLE is rationalising academic labour draws upon the ideas of Foucault and Tronti to argue that OLE is a tool for producing a type of disciplined labour that breaks down the borders between productive and reproductive labour in order to colonise all life as work.

Course Management System’s Compatibility with Teaching Style Influences Willingness to Complete Training

Although course management systems (CMSs) provide technology platforms that help faculty members adopt better techniques for teaching and learning, and training contributes to faculty information technology (IT) use, many higher education faculty members do not complete CMS training programs, resulting in underuse of CMSs. Therefore, the overall purpose of this research was to address how instructor perceptions influence willingness to complete IT training on CMSs, and to discern techniques university administrators can implement to improve training completion rates and, ultimately, CMS adoption rates. The basic design of the study was a cross-sectional survey. Data were obtained from 102 public university faculty members who responded to an anonymous, web-based survey about their perceptions of the relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability of their institution’s CMS. The data were analyzed using multiple linear regression models. Compatibility, defined as the degree to which instructors perceive the CMS as being consistent with their existing values, past experiences, and current or future teaching needs, was statistically significantly associated with willingness to complete online and in-person CMS training after controlling for other factors. Major findings suggest that faculty training on the CMS is not “one size fits all.” If greater use of CMSs by faculty is to be achieved, university administrators should consider compatibility of teaching style with CMS adoption when developing and promoting CMS training.

Delivering Effective Blended Learning: Managing the Dichotomy of Humility and Hubris in Executive Education

ABSTRACTThe dichotomy of humility and hubris among participants in Executive Education courses presents faculty with a source of heterogeneity not disclosed through the common descriptive statistics of sex, age, education and employment. This article discusses the impact of this dichotomy on the design and delivery of effective executive education. In this domain, a premium is charged and the value of collective learning experiences is often promoted. The authors reflect on the value created from offering blended learning experiences to executives over the last decade. Attention is paid to which components can be delivered effectively through web‐based course management systems (CMS) and which components need to be delivered through conventional face‐to‐face delivery. Particular attention is paid to the dichotomy of humility and hubris among participants. Humility is often found to be masked in an online experience while hubris can emerge with consequences to effective cohort learning. The latter is also more obvious in face‐to‐face delivery where it can, perhaps, be better managed. However, experience has shown that is not always so easily managed in in‐house programs. Recommendations are made to enhance design and delivery that accounts for the humility and hubris dichotomy.

Development of a Reality‐Based Multimedia Case Study Teaching Method and its Effect on Students’ Planned Food Safety Behaviors

AbstractThere is opportunity to decrease the frequency of foodborne illnesses by improving food safety competencies and planned behaviors of college students before they begin careers in the food industry. The objectives of this study were to (1) develop a multimedia case study teaching method that provides real world context for food science education; and (2) evaluate the extent to which it improves the intentions of students to implement food safety management systems upon entering the workforce, as well its impact on knowledge gains and students’ abilities to understand complex concepts. The target audience consisted of all participants in an upper‐level undergraduate food safety management systems course (n = 17). A pretest and posttest survey research instrument was developed to measure knowledge gains and also students’ food safety intentions using the framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior.Students experienced significant gains in knowledge, attitude, and intention after completion of the course (P < 0.05). One hundred percent of students agreed that the interactive videos aided in their understanding of food safety concepts. A paired t test suggested that both behavioral control beliefs and attitudes of students toward food safety management significantly increased (P < 0.5) after completion of the case study. These results suggest that integrating multimedia case studies into food science education may enhance food safety behaviors.

Abstraction des fonctionnalités d'une plateforme de formation pour la mise en oeuvre de langages de scénarisation

The GraphiT project aims to help teachers in specifying of pedagogically sound learning scenarios that can be executed for automatically setting-up the related Learning Management System course. We intend to provide teachers with LMS-specific instructional design languages and editors. To achieve this goal, we have to raise the LMS semantics in order to enrich the pedagogical expressiveness of the produced models. We propose a specific LMScentered approach for abstracting the low-level concepts and turning these semantics into higher-level pedagogical building blocks. We present and illustrate our propositions focused on the Moodle LMS.

How can the digital library contribute to employability?

The DEFF project, E-learning, Information literacy and Library services, supports the education policy ambition of enhancing links between education and employment. The project consortium includes libraries from all Danish universities, university colleges and one business academy. Timeframe for the project is 2014-16.The project understands employability as:In close cooperation with study programmes libraries will strengthen students’ abilityto perform independently and critically in a professional context by being able to identify, collect, evaluate, organize and present information via digital platforms.A partnership is made between the digital library (partner libraries involved) and the virtual learning environment (educational institutions), based on the above definition of employability. This is done within the framework of Learning Management Systems (LMS) and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The libraries and academic programmes will collaborate to create e-learning objects based on the relevant digital library systems and information resources.Departments from three Danish universities will contribute by strengthening the project participants’ skills in e-didactics and the development of e-learning objects (SDUUP, University of Southern Denmark), developing a range of flexible concepts for the integration of the virtual library into learning environments (IVA, Copenhagen University) and evaluating the project’s activities (E-Learning Lab, Aalborg University).Sustainable results include the training of library staff to work together with academic programmes via the virtual learning environments, the development of flexible concepts for integrating the virtual library with study environments and knowledge on how inputs, created by the project for each study programme, should function.

Online Work Habits and Academic Performance

This study analyzes the relationship between students’ online work habits and academic performance. We utilize data from logs recorded by a course management system (CMS) in two courses at a small liberal arts college in the U.S. Both courses required the completion of a large number of online assignments. We measure three aspects of students’ online work habits: timeliness, regularity, and intensity. We find that students with a high overall GPA and a high grade in the course work on assignments early and more regularly. We also find that the regularity of work habits during the first half of the term predicts grade in the course, even while controlling for the overall GPA. Overall, however, the marginal predictive power of CMS data is rather limited. Still, the fact that high achieving students show vastly different work habits from low achieving students supports interventions aimed at improving time-management skills.

Use of synchronous e‐learning at university degrees

ABSTRACTDifferent types of Course Management Systems (CMS) are fully integrated in conventional and online courses in many Universities degrees. Although they are suitable for lecturer‐student information sharing, their asynchronous nature prevents an efficient interaction, which may hamper the learning process. As an alternative, synchronous virtual learning platforms can help fill the gaps in traditional CMS. However, there is very little feedback regarding its use in higher education. The Universitat Politècnica de València introduced in 2010 a synchronous e‐learning platform, named Poli[ReunióN], an Adobe Connect‐based online service. Poli[ReunióN] provides virtual sessions where interaction between lecturers and students is enabled by means of audio/video‐conferences and software application sharing. By following this path, Poli[ReunióN] provides an opportunity for planning new educational experiences where technology may help to achieve new learning objectives. However, the implementation of this tool still needs to be explored. In order to check its usefulness, we have performed a multidisciplinary learning experience involving a wide range of subjects over several degrees: Private Telecommunication Systems (degree in Telecommunications Engineering), Algorithms and Data Structure (degree in Computer Sciences), English for International Tourism (degree in Tourism Management), Genetics and Plant Breeding (degree in Agricultural Engineering), and a specific course for teachers’ training. The advantages and disadvantages of the use of Poli[ReunióN] in tutoring and in different learning activities proposed in the aforementioned degrees are discussed from both perspectives—lecturers and students. These experiences may help lecturers and other education professionals to adopt similar e‐learning tools. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 24:982–993, 2016; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI 10.1002/cae.21773

Adoption and Application of CMS

Many tertiary institutions tout their implementation of e-learning technology as a way to lure prospective students, and promised implementation of e-learning strategies in college programs is crucial for securing valuable federal government grants. At the core of most e-learning strategies is the institution's course management system (CMS). A CMS facilitates efficient course management, increased learning outcomes, and greater student autonomy. However, getting faculty and staff to adopt the CMS has proved challenging (Black, Beck, Dawson, Jinks & DiPietro, 2007). Applying a modified technology acceptance model (TAM) (Alharbi & Drew, 2014), teachers in a university-level English language program were asked to share their opinions about the Blackboard® CMS. This study reports on faculty application of the Blackboard CMS, faculty perceptions of the Blackboard CMS according to a TAM analysis, and presents steps for augmenting the effective use of the CMS in all English courses.