An assessment of the use of learning management system by academic staff of the University of Education, Winneba during the covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

Following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, people living in regions with recorded cases resorted to live socially distant from one another. This caused school to close temporarily. For a drive to ensure the continuity of school business, the internet offered a means to realize school continuity through online educational media. The University of Education, Winneba was not immune to this tendency and adopted the Learning Management System (LMS) to host academic activities. This study sought to assess the use of the LMS by the academic staff of the University. The study assumed the pragmatic philosophical worldview with mixed methods backing, employing convenience and cluster sampling approaches to sample academic staff of the University. A total of 231 academic staff responded to the electronic instrument (questionnaire) the study administered. The study used SPSS v.20 to run descriptive and inferential statistics, making use of means and independent sample t-test. The study found that the use of the LMS has enhanced staff problem skills, stimulated staff interest on its usage, yielded timely feedback and the interactive nature of the system. The study further observed statistically significant differences in the experiences of academic staff based on their gender, rank, level of IT skill, training in the use of the LMS, and their class size. Based on the findings, the study recommended that the University through the Department for Continuing Professional Development should build the digital competence of academic staff.