A Study on the Impact of Learning Management Systems on Students of a University College in Sultanate of Oman

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1 IJCSI Itratioal Joural of Computr Scic Issus, Vol. 9, Issu, No, Mah 1 ISSN (Oli): A Study o th Impact of Lari Maamt Systms o Studts of a Uivrsity Coll i Sulat of Oma Sarachadra Nair. C 1 ad Dr. Rajdra atil 1 Dpartmt of Computi, Muscat Coll, Oma Rsah Scholar, JJT Uivrsity, Rajastha, Idia Ditor, Do Bosco Istitut of Tcholoy MMS, Mumbai, Idia Abstract Sulat of Oma is o of th rat coutris i th Middl East with rapid prorss i ducatio with advacd chi ad lari tcholois. Th Uivrsity colls i Oma hav itroducd th latst -Lari Maamt Systms i ordr to kp th pac of th tcholoical rvolutio i th fild of hihr ducatio. Howvr, it is vry import ad sstial to fid out th impact of -Lari Maamt Systms i th Uivrsity colls. Sic th rsahr is associatd with Muscat Coll, th study has b coductd at Muscat Coll to valuat th impact of -lari tcholoy. This papr xamis what impact LMS has mad o studts ad how ffctivly LMS has iflucd studts o thir acadmic activitis. A qustioair was prpard i th acadmic yar 8-9 ad ciulatd to th studts rolld for various Bachlor (Hoours) dr courss of affiliatd partr, Uivrsity of Stirli, UK. Th rsult of th survy was a mattr of cocr. Hc, th rsahr has dcidd to cotiu th rsah i th acadmic yars 9-1 ad 1-11 i ordr to fid out th ral impact of th LMS o th studts i th coll. Kywords: -lari, LMS, impact, ffctivss, Itrt, tcholoy. 1. Itroductio A lari maamt systm (LMS) is a st of softwar tools for dlivri, tracki ad maai oli traii ad ducatio. LMS optios ra from systms for maai traii ords to mor flxibl softwar for distributi courss ovr th Itrt ad offri faturs for oli authori. I som iscs, corporat traii dpartmts puhas a LMS to automat thir ordkpi as wll as to allow ristratio of mploys for classroom ad oli itractiv courss. Ky faturs may iclud studt slf-srvic, slfristratio, istructor-ld traii, skill roups maamt, usr otificatios ad dadlis, maar hirahis, wait-list maamt, ad of cours actual srvi if th traii matrial. Also commo i a LMS is a automatd tsti facility which ords aswrs, rads tsts, ad kps all da for latr rporti ad aalysis. Optioal LMS faturs may iclud a built-i authori tool, chat boards, ad discussio boards. [1] A lari maamt systm (LMS) is a softwar applicatio for th admiistratio, documtio, tracki, ad rporti of traii prorams, classroom ad oli vts, -lari prorams, ad traii cott. LMSs ra from systms for maai traii ad ducatioal ords, to softwar for distributi courss ovr th Itrt with faturs for oli collaboratio. Corporat traii us LMSs to automat ord-kpi ad mploy ristratio, Studt slf-srvic (.., slfristratio o istructor-ld traii), traii workflow (.., usr otificatio, maar approval, wait-list maamt), th provisio of o-li lari (.., computr-basd traii, rad & udrsd), o-li assssmt, maamt of cotiuous profssioal ducatio (CE), collaborativ lari (.., applicatio shari, discussio thrads), ad traii rsou maamt (.., istructors, facilitis, quipmt), ar dimsios to Lari Maamt Systms. [] A lari maamt systm (LMS) is a softwar applicatio or Wb-basd tcholoy usd to pla, implmt, ad assss a spcific lari procss. Typically, a lari maamt systm provids a istructor with a way to crat ad dlivr cott, moitor studt participatio, ad assss studt prformac. A lari maamt systm may also provid studts with th ability to us itractiv faturs such as thradd discussios, vido cofi, ad discussio forums. Th Advacd Disc Lari roup, sposord by th Uitd Sts Dpartmt of Copyriht (c) 1 Itratioal Joural of Computr Scic Issus. All Rihts Rsrvd.

2 IJCSI Itratioal Joural of Computr Scic Issus, Vol. 9, Issu, No, Mah 1 ISSN (Oli): Dfs, has cratd a st of spcificatios calld Sharabl Cott Objct Rf Modl (SCORM) to coura th sdardizatio of lari maamt systms. [3]. LMS i Hihr Educatio Lari Maamt Systms ar usd all ovr Hihr Educatio Istitutios (HEI) i th world ad th d to kow ad udrsd its adoptio ad usa ariss. O th o had, thr ar diffrt istitutioal culturs ad charactristics ad, o th othr had, thr ar svral distict LMS tools. Cosidri this it is xpctd to fid out distict xprics i th adoptio ad usa of LMS. Th richss of ach of th xprics ca hlp th worldwid commuity to bttr udrsd how LMS ar bi usd. [4] Th most usd LMS accordi to a survy coductd i 9 aswrd by 1 uivrsitis from 19 diffrt coutris i cotits, wr Moodl, Blackboard / WbCT, ad Sakay. I that study svral othr LMS wr rfrrd such as ItsLari, DsirLar, Claroli, METU Oli, Chisimba, Hih Lar, Formar, Lari Spac, First Class, Dokos, Coll, Class Frotr, KEWL. [4] Th rsults ca b s as a volutio. I th past yars, th propriry platforms wr th most usd but currtly thr is a icras of op sou fr platforms usa. Cosqutly, thr ar ot may studis rardi th usa lvl of such tools, cocri studts, chrs, tools fuctioalitis, usability, ad th tir tcholoical viromt. Grally, both propriry ad op sou fr LMS provid svral fuctioalitis, such as, lctroic distributio of cours syllabi, rads ad chrs fdback to studts, ability to post hyprliks to wbsits, forum for th xcha of idas, wikis which allows studts to swap idas ad iformatio o projcts, chat rooms for ral tim discussio, faciliti maili ad mssai amo th participats (chr/studts, studts/studts), facilitis for studts to submit work assimts lctroically, th mas to admiistr quizzs ad txts oli. It is frqut to obsrv that dspit LMS o HEI is offrd ad usa stimulatd, oly a fw of thos fuctioalitis ar adoptd, ithr by chrs, or by studts. [4] 3. LMS i Sulat of Oma Sulat of Oma, bi a dvlopi coutry, has o throuh may social chas that hav, i tur, altrd th Omai socity ds. Tcholoy, o th othr had has xrtd a trmdous impact o th Omai socil stti ad cotributd to v mor ds. Th social dmad to icras th hihr ducatio ik is obvious. Taki i cosidratio that ths raduats Copyriht (c) 1 Itratioal Joural of Computr Scic Issus. All Rihts Rsrvd.

3 IJCSI Itratioal Joural of Computr Scic Issus, Vol. 9, Issu, No, Mah 1 ISSN (Oli): ar wll tud to t tcholoical dvlopmt, may cotribut to allviat this problm throuh istituti a quality tcholoy richd disc ad lctroic lari systm whr th hihr ducatio istitutios could admit cri umbr of studts usi this dlivry mthod. Th Itrt ad othr forms of -Lari platforms ar bi itroducd ad diffusd ito th Omai ducatioal systm for chrs ad faculty mmbrs o oli. Vrsios of lari maamt systms such as WbCT, Moodl, ad -porls hav b implmtd at may ducatioal istitutios. [] Ovrall, -Lari is rapidly bcomi a sstial compot of Oma s ducatioal procss ad bris with it th most siificat chas sic th itroductio of th priti prss. With its rapidly rowi workfo of adapbl ad wll ducatd raduats, Oma could hav a uiqu rol to play with -Lari i th rio. I a similar mar to its succss i capturi a rioal lad i call ctrs, Oma may b abl to positio itslf as a ladr i dvlopi ad providi hih quality - Lari matrial with a tru flavor of Arabic cultur. [6] As pr Oma Obsrvr datd o th Ju 11, th succss i itroduci th systm of -lari throuh ambitious systms lik Blackboard Lari ad Blackboard Commuity, th Colls of Applid Scics (CAS) has dcidd to uprad ad itroduc th w vrsio of Blackboard Lari i all th six colls i Oma. Th -lari systm is a ambitious projct of th Miistry of Hihr Educatio aimd at providi th studts ad sff of th colls th bst possibl - lari solutios. This was std by Mohammd Rashid al Maamari, Assist Gral of Colls at CAS, i a itrviw with th Obsrvr. W succssfully itroducd Blackboard Lari ad Blackboard Commuity systms about two yars back ad ow comi up with th w vrsio of th Blackboard Lari kow as Blackboard Lar, Rlas 9.1, said Al Maamari. Th objctiv is aimd at providi a ctralizd lari roud for all th studts ad sff of th colls with upradd facilitis. Udr th systm all th studts ca lo o to th -lari systm from th coll, from th cybr cafs as also from thir hom, h said. Blackboard s most popular solutio is cours maamt systms calld th Blackboard Lar Systm. It is usd succssfully by thousads of schools for supplmti fac-to-fac lari ad for providi complt disc lari. Givi studts th flxibility of w forms of collaboratios, asir ad privat slf-assssmt, ad th ability to do roup projcts with lss fac-to-fac tim is mpowri to faculty ad studts drivi studt succss. Blackboard Lar, Rlas 9.1 provids th usrs with a xciti stp ito xt ratio chi ad lari platform. Rlas 9.1 focuss o fostri studt amt ad supporti ducator fficicy. Blackboard Lar Rlas 9.1 has xciti w social lari ad chi tools that fostr mor loical, visually impactful, ad activ lari opportuitis for studts, hlpi thm sy coctd to thir ducatioal xpric 4 hours a day, Maamari said. Its ky faturs iclud, Blos, Wikis ad Jourals that hlp promot activ collaboratio; Mashups, which has itrat visually ai cott; Groups that has ability for hacd roup collaboratio ad Blackboard Lar Toolbar that aids i powrful ad rlvat sahs. Bsids, Blackboard Scholar is a acadmic bookmarki tool; Accssibility ivs bttr accssibility; Blackboard Coct kps studts coctd ad Blackboard Mobil is a mobil lari cocpt. Th MoHE has trd ito a armt with th Edutch Middl East to provid tcholoy-abld iformatio ad lari solutios to th colls locatd i Sur, Ibri, Sohar, Rusq, Nizwa ad Salalah. [] 4. LMS i Muscat Coll Muscat Coll is o amo th top privat uivrsity colls i th Sulat of Oma. Muscat Coll was sblishd i 1996 as a privat acadmic Omai istitutio of hihr ducatio. Muscat Coll is accrditd ad oprats udr th suprvisio of th Miistry of Hih Educatio i Oma. Muscat Coll is affiliatd with both th Uivrsity of Stirli ad Th Scottish Qualificatio Authority (SQA) UK. [8] Muscat Coll offrs th followi proramms i affiliatio with Uivrsity of Stirli. 1. B Sc (Hos) i Busiss Computi. B A (Hos) i Busiss Studis 3. B A (Hos) i Accoucy ad Busiss Studis 4. B A (Hos) i Accoucy ad Computi Scic Th duratio of ach proramm is of 4 yars. Th first batch had rolld i -8 ad thy hav succssfully compltd i Muscat Coll uss th -Lari Maamt Systm, Blackboard-WbCT, of Uivrsity of Stirli. Th studts from Oma ar rolld to Uivrsity of Stirli throuh Muscat Coll. Thy attd classs ad appar for xamiatio at Muscat Coll. Howvr, th syllabus, Copyriht (c) 1 Itratioal Joural of Computr Scic Issus. All Rihts Rsrvd.

4 IJCSI Itratioal Joural of Computr Scic Issus, Vol. 9, Issu, No, Mah 1 ISSN (Oli): schdul, matrials ad xamiatio paprs ar prpard by Uivrsity of Stirli. Th fial xamiatios ar coductd at Muscat Coll usi th sam qustio papr(s) st ad usd by Uivrsity of Stirli at th sam tim of UK (v if th day schduld for th xamiatio is a holiday i Oma). Th aswr paprs ar valuatd at Muscat Coll ad st to Uivrsity of Stirli for vrificatio ad approval from th xamiatio board at th Uivrsity of Stirli. Th rsults ar publishd ad th Dr is awardd by Uivrsity of Stirli. Muscat Coll studts ca v attd classs at Uivrsity of Stirli. Thr ar moduls i th cours whr tsts ad/or xamiatios ar coductd oli usi WbCT at th sam tim at Muscat Coll ad Uivrsity of Stirli, UK. Th Uivrsity of Stirli has providd usr am to all Muscat Coll studts ad acadmic sff for accssi WbCT ad -mail systm. Th acadmic sff ds prior approval from Uivrsity of Stirli to dlivr th moduls of hoours proramm. All th approvd acadmic sff would t admiistrativ rihts i th WbCT to upload fils, if cssary, of th moduls bi dlivrd. Th rsahr is associatd with Muscat Coll for th past lv yars ad dlivri courss usi Blackboard-WbCT. Th rsahr flt th cssity of studyi th impact of LMS o studts prformac. Th first survy study was coductd i th acadmic yar 8-9 ad cotiud th study o th studts of acadmic yars 9-1 ad Survy Study Fidis Th survy askd qustios to valuat th impact of Lari Maamt Systm amo th first, scod, third ad fourth yar of bachlor (hoours) dr studts. Acadmic Yar Tol Studts Studts Rspodd Muscat coll has a majority of fmal studts ad th majority of th studts rspodd to survy was also fmal. Hc dr wis rsult aalysis is ot do Fi. 1 Gdr aalysis of rspodd studts. Th import fidis from this survy study ar iv blow i this sctio..1 Itrt Accss Gdr Aalysis Mal-Tol Mal-Rspodd Mal Fmal-Tol Fmal-Rspodd Fmal Itrt Accss Tabl 1 blow shows th tol umbr of studts i th coll ad umbr of studts rspodd to th survy i ach acadmic yar Tabl 1: Numbr of studts rspodd i th survy Oly at Coll/Uivrsity At Coll/Uivrsity ad Hom Fi. Availability of Itrt to studts. Copyriht (c) 1 Itratioal Joural of Computr Scic Issus. All Rihts Rsrvd.

5 IJCSI Itratioal Joural of Computr Scic Issus, Vol. 9, Issu, No, Mah 1 ISSN (Oli): Th study clarly shows that majority of th studts hav accss to Itrt at hom as wll. Fi clarly shows th sdy rowth i th availability of Itrt at hom so that studts ca us LMS whvr thy wish to do. th ood outcom of usi LMS at Muscat Coll (s Fi. 4). LMS maks cours activitis mor covit. Frqucy of Usi LMS Th study rvald that studts of acadmic yar 8-9 wr ot usi LMS quit frqutly. Howvr, th studts usa frqucy has b improvd i th acadmic yars 9-1 & 1-11 (s Fi. 3). 3 3 Frqucy of usi LMS Stroly Disar Disar Nutral Ar Stroly Ar Fi. 4 Cours activitis mor covit with LMS Nvr Oc a yar Oc a smstr Mothly Wkly Svral tims pr wk 6 Daily.4 ICT Srvics Muscat Coll has ot latst st-of-th-art IT ifrastructur with iht srvrs (Domai cotrollr, Mail, Dabas, ISA-roxy, Backup, Ativirus admiistratio ad two Fil srvrs), 14 laboratoris with 4 computrs. All th labs ar quippd with projctors ad fw of thm with smart boards too. Th computr studt ratio is 1:3. Thr ar labs xclusivly for hoours dr projct studts ad foudatio IT studts. Fi. 3 LMS usa. Th study coductd o 8-9 has idtifid that th studts wr ot vry much awar about th advas of usi LMS. Thrfor, Muscat Coll sff has iv basic traii to all th studts for usi LMS o th moduls uht by thm i th first smstr of 9-1. This was wll attdd by th studts. Thrfor, Muscat Coll has arrad two days work shop o Blackboard- WbCT for both studts ad sff. Mr. Simo Booth, IT Admiistrator of Uivrsity of Stirli, UK has coductd th work shop o th & 6 th of Octobr 1 at Muscat Coll. Th work shop was vry usful ad ffctiv for both studts ad sff..3 Covic of Cours Activitis Th maximum umbr of studts has flt that cours activitis ar mor covit whil usi LMS. % of th studts hav ithr ard or stroly ard to this i th acadmic yar % of th studts hav ithr ard or stroly ard i 9-1 ad a ovrwhlmi 9% of th studts hav ithr ard or stroly ard i This is th clar idicatio of Th studts hav rspodd vry positivly about IT srvics of Muscat Coll. 9% of th studts hav ithr ard or stroly ard to this i th acadmic yar % of th studts hav ithr ard or stroly ard i 9-1 ad a ovrwhlmi 93% of th studts hav ithr ard or stroly ard i 1-11 (s Fi. ) Coll ICT srvics ar always availabl 1 Stroly Disar Disar Nutral Ar Stroly Ar Fi. Availability of ICT srvics Copyriht (c) 1 Itratioal Joural of Computr Scic Issus. All Rihts Rsrvd.

6 IJCSI Itratioal Joural of Computr Scic Issus, Vol. 9, Issu, No, Mah 1 ISSN (Oli): Lari Skills Thr is a clar idicatio of th improvmt i th lari skills of th studts aftr thy hav srtd usi LMS proprly. I th acadmic yar 8-9 thr wr oly 66% of th studts hav ithr ard or stroly ard to this. Howvr, aftr th traii iv to th studts by th sff i 9-1, 86% of th studts hav ithr ard or stroly ard i 9-1. Aftr th LMS workshop, iv by Mr. Simo Booth i Octobr 1, 91% of th studts hav ithr ard or stroly ard havi improvd thir lari skills i th acadmic yar 1-11 (s Fi. 6). This rsult clarly shows th positiv impact of LMS o studts. th acadmic yars 9-1 & Thr must b spcial atttio paid to thos 3% of th studts who hav ratd as ativ to fid out th rasos ad ovom thir difficultis Ovrall xpric of usi LMS Usi LMS improvd lari skills Vry ativ Nativ Nutral ositiv Vry positiv 3 3. Studts Rttio Fi. LMS xpric. 1 4 Fi. 6 LMS ad lari skills..6 Expric of Usi LMS Th ovrall xpric of usi Blackboard-WbCT is ratd as vry ood by th majority of th studts. Th rsposs from th studts ar i similar pattr of th abov charactristics for th acadmic yars 8-9, 9-1 & It clarly shows vry ood improvmt from 8-9 to 9-1 ad it cotiud i I 8-9, oly 48% of th studts wr ithr positiv or vry positiv to th xpric ad 31% of th studts wr utral. I 9-1, 86% of th studts wr ithr positiv or vry positiv. I 1-11, 88% of th studts wr ithr positiv or vry positiv (s Fi. ). It should also b otd that thr wr % of th studts ratd as ithr ativ or vry ativ to th ovrall xpric of usi LMS i 8-9. This ativ rati has b succssfully ovom ad just 3% of th studts hav ratd as ithr ativ or vry ativ i Stroly Disar Disar Nutral Ar Stroly Ar Muscat Coll joys a xcllt rttio rat of th studts at prst. Nw studts ar admittd i th moth of Sptmbr ach yar as acadmic yar srts from 1st wk of Sptmbr. Studts ar admittd to Uivrsity of Stirli proarmm aftr th succssful compltio of th foudatio proarmm with IELTS scor of 6. from Muscat Coll. Studts thos who hav compltd foudatio proramm from othr colls ar admittd aftr passi th admissio tst of IT, Maths ad IELTS scor of Studts Rttio 19 Nw Erollmt No. of Studts Withdraw Rttio Fi. 8 Rttio rat of studts Copyriht (c) 1 Itratioal Joural of Computr Scic Issus. All Rihts Rsrvd.

7 IJCSI Itratioal Joural of Computr Scic Issus, Vol. 9, Issu, No, Mah 1 ISSN (Oli): Muscat Coll admits about 1 w studts for Uivrsity of Stirli proramm i ach acadmic yar i additio to SQA proarmm ad Foudatio proramm. Thr may b fw studts withdrawi from th Uivrsity of Stirli proramm ad joi th SQA proarmm. Similarly, fw studts may withdraw ad joi othr colls also. Th rsahr has mad a attmpt to fid th rttio rat ad sblishd a lik btw LMS ad rttio rat. I 8-9, th rttio rat was 4%. I 9-1, th rttio rat was 81%. I 1-11, th rttio rat was 8%. I 11-1 (aftr smstr 1), th rttio rat was 84%. Th study has show that studts hav srtd usi LMS fficitly from 9-1 owards ad rttio rat is also hih sic Coclusios Th study clarly shows th positiv impact LMS o studts. Althouh th rspos from th studts of acadmic yar 8-9 was ot that courai du to lack of awarss of th advas of usi LMS. Th traii iv to th studts o LMS has b vry succssful ad majority of th studts hav rspodd vry positivly i th acadmic yars 9-1 & Th frqucy of usi LMS has b ood. Th studts hav flt that cours activitis hav bcom mor covit. Studts lari skills hav b improvd. Muscat Coll ICT srvics ar foud to b fficit. Ovrall th majority of th studts hav had vry ood xpric i usi LMS. Th impact of LMS is also visibl i th studt s rttio rat. ast thr acadmic yars, th rttio rat avra is 83%. It is cosistt sic 9-1. Th rttio rat was 4% i 8-9. Th rsah study cocluds by sti that Lari Maamt Systms has b vry bficial to th studts at Muscat Coll. ad Sdardizatio, ortual, 11, Availabl at: [] Uur Dmiray, Cass o Challs faci -Lari ad Natioal dvlopmt: Istitutioal Studis ad ractics, Vol II, Aadolu Uivrsity, Turky, p63. [6] Brt Hall, -Lari Applyi Tcholoy to Educatio. Diil Oma, issu 3, availabl at &id=14_1. [] Rport availabl at: (Nws o Oma Obsrvr, th Ju 11). [8] Muscat Coll Uivrsity Coll dils ar availabl at Sarachadra Nair. C is pursui hd from JJT Uivrsity i Idia. H has ivd Mhil dr from Alaappa Uivrsity. H is worki as Sior Lcturr i th dpartmt of computi, Muscat Coll, Sulat of Oma for th past 1 yars Sarachadra Nair. C is also a oizd chr of Uivrsity of Stirli, UK. H has prstd ad publishd four paprs i itratioal cofs. H is a mmbr of may profssioal associatios. His rsah aras ar -Lari ad Cloud computi. Dr. Rajdra atil ivd hd from SRTM Uivrsity, Idia i. At prst, h is th Ditor of Do Bosco istitut of tcholoy i Idia. H has srvd as Ditor / ricipal i various Computi Scic / Maamt colls i Idia. H has mor tha 3 yars of xpric i th fild of chi, traii ad dvlopmt i ducatio sctor. H has publishd mor tha paprs i itratioal ad atioal jourals. H is a mmbr of may profssioal associatios. H has b uidi hd studts for th past six yars. Rfs [1] LMS Dfiitio availabl at: [] Ellis, Rya K, Fild Guid to Lari Maamt Systms, ASTD Lari Ciuits, (9), 9B-E946D/339/LMS_filduid_91.pdf. [3] LMS Dfiitio availabl at: (). [4] Rosalia Babo, ad Aa Azvdo, Hihr Educatio Istitutios ad Lari Maamt Systms: Adoptio Copyriht (c) 1 Itratioal Joural of Computr Scic Issus. All Rihts Rsrvd.