digging deeper: discovering how and why faculty use blackboard learn

Slidesavailableatfacdev.niu.edu/bbworld17

DiggingDeeperDiscoveringhowandwhyfacultyuseBlackboardLearn

JasonRhodeDirector

jrhode@niu.edu@JasonRhode

PeterGowenOnlineAnalyticsCoordinator

pgowen@niu.edu@petergowen

StephanieRichterAssistantDirectorsrichter@niu.edu

@slrichter

Presenters

Context– AboutNIU

• MaincampusinDeKalb,ILlocated65milesWestofChicago

• Totalenrollment:19,015

• 1,174Instructionalfaculty• Studenttoinstructor/facultyratio:15:1

NorthernIllinoisUniversityOverview

64%ofcreditcoursesusedBlackboardinfall2016

95%ofstudentsusedBlackboardinfall2016

88%offacultyusedBlackboardinfall 2016

FacultyDevelopmentofferstraining&supportforfaculty

Facultyadoptionhasalwaysbeenvoluntary

Blackboardclientforover15years

BlackboardUseatNIU

Viewthefullinfographicatfacdev.niu.edu/bbstats2016

LearnMore

• HowarefacultyusingBlackboard?•WhattoolsarefacultyusinginBlackboard?

•WhyarefacultyusingBlackboard?

• Howcanweimproveoursupport?

WeHadMoreQuestions

(Al-Busaidi &Al-Shihi,2010)

TechnologyAcceptanceModel

Phase2• Whatfactorsimpactfacultydecisionstoadopt,continuetouse,orabandontheLMS?

Phase1• WhatarethemostusedtoolsintheLMS?

• Howhastoolusagechanged?• Whatfactorsimpacttoolusage?

ResearchQuestions

Phase2• DistributedasurveytoallNIU“instructorsofrecord”• AskedaboutreasonsforusingBb,Toolsused,andsatisfaction/easeofuse• Codedqualitativedatawithmultiplereviewers• 25%responserate

Phase1• SysAdminqueriesdatabase• Refinedsearchesovertimebasedonobservation• Dummy-codedtoolusageaspresentorabsent(whetheritwasusedvs.howmuchitwasused)• Comparedwithcoursemodality(e.g.,onlinevs.face-to-face)

Methods

Phase1

• SQLqueryofOpenDatabase• AdaptedfromScottKodai’s (2013)BbWorldpresentationslideshare.net/skodai/bb-w-skodai

Ourqueriesavailablebyrequest–emailsrichter@niu.edu

Queries

Queries

• Run~2weeksafterasemesterends

• Countsthenumberoftimesatoolisusedinacourse

• ReturnsaCSVfile

Sampledata

MostlyCOUNTsofreferencestoagiventoolcnthndlr_handleforagivencoursecrsmain_pk1,inthecourse_contents table

OccasionallynecessarytoJOINanothertableforcertainstats

Examples• Howmanytestsdeployed?• Howmanyitemsposted?• Howmanyfolderscreated?• Howmanygradecolumns?• Howmanyannouncements?

TechnicalDetails

Verifyyourdata!

DataTransformationandAnalysis

• Ifatoolwasusedatleastonce,wecounteditas“used”

• Recodeddatato1or0• Aggregatedwheredesiredorneededex:SafeAssign istracked2ways

• CombinedwithdatafromSISforcoursemodality

Howdoyouknowthatatoolisused?

DataDictionaryandKeyDefinitions

• Whateachdatapointmeasures

• Nuancesinitsmeasurement

• Howthemethodofmeasurementhaschangedovertime

Discussions

Countofreplies,separateforCourseandGroupdiscussionboards

MEDIAL

Countofdiscretepiecesofcoursecontentwhichcontaineitheratext-basedlinktoMEDIALvideos,orMEDIALvideosembeddedviatheMashuptool

testsdiscussionrepliesplagiarismdetectionweblinks

assignmentsfilesfoldersgradesitemsannouncements

0%

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100%

Results– Usage

testsdiscussionrepliesplagiarismdetectionweblinks

assignmentsfilesfoldersgradesitemsannouncements

0%

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Usagehasbeenincreasingforalltools

testsdiscussionrepliesplagiarismdetectionweblinks

assignmentsfilesfoldersgradesitemsannouncements

0%

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SharperincreasesstartinginFall2015

testsdiscussionrepliesplagiarismdetectionweblinks

assignmentsfilesfoldersgradesitemsannouncements

0%

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Peakedbehavioreverysummer

ToolUseforAllCourses

testsdiscussionrepliesplagiarismdetectionweblinks

assignmentsfilesfoldersgradesitemsannouncements

0%

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ToolUseforIn-PersonCourses

testsdiscussionreplies

plagiarismdetectionweblinks

assignmentsfilesfoldersgradesitemsannouncements

plagiarismdetection

weblinksfiles

tests

discussionrepliesgradesassignmentsfoldersannouncementsitems

0%

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ToolUseforOnlineCourses

Phase2

TechnologyAcceptanceModel• BasedontheTechnologyAcceptanceModel

• Questionsvalidatedbyanexternalexpert

• Senttoallinstructorsofrecordviaemail

Viewthesurveyatfacdev.niu.edu/lmsusagesurvey

SurveyDetails

Samplesurveyquestions

Samplesurveyquestions

Samplesurveyquestions

MotivationforadoptingtheLMS

95%offacultyrespondinghadadoptedBlackboard

PerceivedasRequired

PerceivedValue

PerceivedEaseofUse

MotivationforadoptingtheLMS

5%offacultyrespondinghadnoteveradoptedBlackboard

Perceivedlackofneed

UseofAlternativeTool

PerceivedLackofTraining

PerceivedDifficultyofUse

LackofNeed2%offacultyhadstoppedusingBlackboard

MotivationforabandoningtheLMS

DiscussionandInterpretation

Usageisincreasing

• Considertoolsinadditiontooverallusage

• Usageseems tobedifferentbasedonmodality

LMSisvaluedbyfacultyandstudents

• Perceptionthatitisrequired

• Helpsfacultybemoreeffectiveandefficient

Facultystillneedsupport

• PerceptionthatBlackboardisdifficult

• Numberoffeaturescanbeoverwhelming

• Lackofself-confidenceinusingBlackboard

Weneedtoknowmore!

• Furtheranalysisofourexistingdata• Additionaldata,fromothercontexts

Letusknowifyou’dliketopartnertoofferthesurveyatyourowninstitution–

srichter@niu.edu

JasonRhodeDirector

jrhode@niu.edu@JasonRhode

PeterGowenOnlineAnalyticsCoordinator

pgowen@niu.edu@petergowen

StephanieRichterAssistantDirectorsrichter@niu.edu

@slrichter

Questions?

Don’tforgettoratethissessionintheBbWorldapp.