Toward a Student-Centered Measure of Learning Management System Utilization

Abstract

Colleges and universities have spent significant financial and human resources deploying and promoting educational technologies, including Learning Management Systems (LMS). A large body of research now exists on the impact of technology on student learning, including the roles of blended learning, hybrid classes, and distance learning. Yet, despite all of this work, there are surprisingly few policy-focused tools available to assess whether these investments are paying off in the classroom. This article describes a student-centered measure of LMS utilization, average number of student logins per student, as a primary tool for policymakers. While no single measure of LMS utilization will ever answer all needs, the authors argue that a student-centered empirical measure could help move policy discussions forward in important ways. Complementary to theoretical models that focus on faculty adoption, a student-centered approach provides a basic measure of how often technology is being used by the learner. The article illustrates several ways in which the proposed empirical measure could be used to spur dialog about the use of academic technologies on campus.