The Importance of LMS Use Policy in Higher Education Institutions

The shape of education is changing on a daily basis with the technological advances. This change is
especially necessary to accommodate digital natives in Higher Education Institutions. Today, Learning
Management Systems which provide more convenient way of learning and teaching are commonly used
in education. Although many institutions utilize such systems, some instructors are still reluctant to
integrate this technology into their teaching. Institutional technology policy is one of the factors that have
been found to have an influence on the dissemination of technology use in institutions. Therefore, the aim
of this study is to examine the impact of institutional policy on dissemination of technology by analysing
Learning Management System activities of students and instructors. In the first part of the analysis before
and after institutional policy change Learning Management Systems activity data of instructors are
utilized. SPSS is used to analyse the relationship between pre- and post-policy change according to
faculties. Paired Sample T-Test is used in the second part of the analysis to analyse if there is a statistically
significant difference between the pre- and post-policy change on students and instructors use of Learning
Management Systems. The findings of this study show that the change in policy does not have any impact
on the active use of Learning Management System by students and instructors. Considering these
findings, this study highlights the importance of effective policy implementation and dissemination in
order to increase Learning Management System based activities in Higher Education Institutions. It is
clearly known that the integration of technology into education increases student engagement and
performance therefore, this study underlines the importance of an effective policy implementation in
higher education institutions. 

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