Attitudes of faculty members towards using learning management system "desire2learn" in learning

Abstract

This research aims to investigate faculty members' attitudes towards using learning management system "Desire2Learn" (D2L) at Umm Al-Qura University (UQU) in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In addition, it examines the impact of some personal and organizational variables on the faculty members' attitudes. The paper aims as well to identify the principal obstacles that limit their use of eLearning platform (Desire2Learn). To achieve these aims, a descriptive analysis methodology was used in this research, and the research sample consists of 160 participants that were selected randomly from various faculties at the university. The sample participants are asked to complete a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire to gather the required data. Validity and reliability of the questionnaire were guaranteed. The research results revealed positive attitudes of the faculty members at UQU towards eLearning platform (D2L), although it has not activated enough yet. Results also indicated there are differences of statistical significance level (0.05) in the attitudes of faculty members towards using LMS "D2L" due to the colleges classification, whether they are humanities, scientific or medical colleges. However, there are significant statistically differences in faculty members' attitudes with respect to using D2L which are found in favor of males than females and the scientific colleges whose faculty members are more desire to use the learning management system than those in the humanities colleges. The results revealed that the most important obstacles are the administrative and academic obstacles which is ranked first, followed by the physical obstacles and the personal obstacles exist at the final. The research findings help stakeholders and decision makers at higher education to take into account the implication of designing more e-courses to fulfill the needs of faculty member and activate the LMS usage to increase the efficiency of eLearning. The contribution of this research is clarified to direct faculty members' practice in various learning activities environment that lead to a successful implementation of eLearning platform and afford the stakeholders better understanding to promote positive attitudes and effective use toward LMS.