Engaging Students Online: Readiness of Lecturers to Use Learning Management System (LMS) at a Technical Vocational Education and Training College
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Date
2022
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Publisher
Community College Journal of Research and Practice
Abstract
Higher education institutions worldwide have embraced remote learning as
a response to restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in
in the imposition of stay-at-home protocols. While this shift from conventional face-to-face mode to remote learning platforms represents
a notable innovation in education circles, we contend that implementing
online learning in these times requires faculty to be adequately prepared to
use online tools to facilitate learning among students effectively. In this case,
a study conducted at a vocational college, a rural community college in South
Africa: we explore the readiness of lecturers (N = 15) to use an institutionally designed Learning Management System (henceforth referred to as
MLMS) to engage their students in learning. The study revealed that the
participants were largely unprepared to use the MLMS for teaching. This lack
of readiness was influenced by the poor MLMS design, lack of user experience, and inadequate technological resources for lecturers and learners. It
emerged from the findings of this paper that the MLMS needs upgrading to
improve its effectiveness for online and teaching purposes. The findings
suggest that the college should seek the buy-in of lecturers by providing
them with further training on the use of the MLMS
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Learning Management System, Vocational Education, Online