Study Details How Faculty Use Course Management SystemsDENVER
Two-thirds of faculty members increase their use of online course management systems once they begin using it in their teaching, rather than decrease or keep it at a consistent level, according to a recent study on course management tools conducted in the University of Wisconsin system.
The EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research (ECAR) has published a major research study on faculty and instructional staff use of course management systems. The study, "Faculty Use of Course Management Systems" by Glenda Morgan, a learning technology analyst in the Office of Learning and Information Technology of the University of Wisconsin System, details how faculty members use the systems in their teaching.
This study is based on quantitative survey responses from 730 faculty and instructional staff, 140 qualitative interviews of faculty, and manual counts and examinations of usage logs of the course management systems used in the University of Wisconsin System. The study specifically focuses on the following: the extent to which faculty use course management systems, which features they use, in which learning environments they use them, and what motivates them to increase or decrease their use.
 Established in 2000, ECAR was begun by EDUCAUSE, the leading association for information technology professionals in American higher education. ECAR has assembled leading scholars and researchers to study issues related to the changes being brought about in higher education by the introduction of new information technologies.
The course management study complements 10 research bulletins already published this year, according to EDUCAUSE officials. In 2003, ECAR will publish six studies, 25 research bulletins and more than 10 case studies.
A summary of the study's key findings can be accessed at:
<www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ecar_so/ers/ers0302/ekf0302.pdf>.

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