Students’ perceptions of learning management systems. An explorative case study of upper secondary school students

Abstract

IT has for a time been a part of the everyday life in schools. Learning management (LMS) system is intended to help students by facilitating learning and communication. While the systems employ a variety of functions and benefits they also present challenges to the individual student. Results from prior research indicate that these systems are often underutilised or unable to deliver desired effects by failing to comply with the user’s expectations and needs. The purpose of this study was to gain insights into how learning management systems are perceived by students in upper secondary school. Ten students were interviewed to identify factors influencing student perceptions of LMS. Our findings indicated that student’s perceptions are affected by sociological and technological factors. Yet, despite the system limitations, students can adopt the system if it can correspond with the student’s unique learning expectancies.