Determination of learning management system use habits of distance education students

Abstract

Anadolu University has been successfully conducting distance education in Turkey for 36 years. There are nearly two million active students enrolled in distance education programs. By means of "Anadolum eCampus" within its learning management system, the university offers 1372 courses in 58 programs. There are 21 different types of content on the eCampus. The contents vary from 7 to 18 depending on the number of students. As for the business program, each course includes contents such as e-book, unit summary, audio summary, leaf test, unit narration videos, and pilot tests. Additionally, different contents like live courses and answered questions are offered.

The main purpose of this study is to define students' learning management system usage behaviors. Thus, to which extent students are able to benefit from the content on the system will be revealed. The target population of the study consists of students using eCampus in the business program, which has the most students in distance education with more than 200,000 students. Regarding the sampling, the voluntary sampling method is preferred. In this context, the data were obtained from a total of 882 students.

In the survey, data were collected through an online questionnaire. The questionnaire includes demographic questions and statements about the use of content in the system. The questions related to the usage behavior are adapted from the Technology Acceptance Model developed by Venkatesh et al. (2012). After the researcher has given permission language adaptation has been completed. Then, the dimension of the use behavior in the model is adapted to the purpose of the research. At the adapted scale, students' usage behaviors are grouped into written content, visual content, audio content, interactive content and communication tools and students are asked how often they use these contents. The study also examines the relationship between students' demographic characteristics and their user behaviors.

The findings of the study show that students are actively benefiting from the written, visual, audible and interactive contents and communication tools in the system. When compared, it is seen that students use the most written content and least communication tools. It is also seen that successful students use the most interactive content in terms of frequency of use.

In the light of these findings, it can be said that technological tools have an important place in the education of business students, who will be the future managers and entrepreneurs, and that these students are open to technological innovations. Besides, the success of a large majority of students using these learning materials demonstrates that distance education can be effectively conducted. The findings of the study show that not only the written content but also other contents should be enriched for more effective learning in the following term. With this study, some valuable information about the learning management system (eCampus) will be shared with managers of the system.