Preferred Features of Course Management Systems in Post Secondary and Corporate Online Learning

Abstract

The instrument described in this chapter is designed for instructors of e-learning, for the purpose of giving faculty an opportunity to identify, express, and suggest features in a Course Management System (CMS) that they feel are pedagogically important. Appropriate for use in universities or corporations, this survey can provide instructors with a greater voice in the CMS decision making process, thereby giving pedagogy a greater influence on the practice of technology implementation in the learning environment. This chapter describes the construction of the survey, its psychometric properties, and preliminary data gathered at a private university in New York State. The findings differentiate among CMS’ features that faculty consider important, not important, or feel neutral about. Further, the results underscore the differences between previous users and non-users of CMSs in assigning importance to types of features. The author discusses the implications of using the survey in both educational and corporate settings with the purpose of helping institutions that utilize e-learning to meet the educational standard set by current best practices.