Lecturer engagement in the use of interactive tools in learning management systems

A Swedish case study

Abstract

In this paper the authors argue that although Higher Education researchers have been largely responsible for the creation of the Internet, university lecturers have been far less innovative and active in their use of this form of Information Communication Technology (ICT). To support our case we use our own research to show the manner and extent to which a Learning Management System (LMS) is used by a sample of teachers from an Engineering Department in Sweden. We also analyze the use of interactive LMS tools by lecturers who undertake staff development courses. The teachers in our two samples make very little use of online asynchronous discussions (OADs) either as teachers or as students. We use logic and the literature to explain this phenomenon and make some recommendations for improving the scholarly, innovative and pedagogical use of LMS in both staff development and mainstream university courses.