Adopting a Learning Management System

This case is the winner of the Philip Law Scholarship of The Case Centre, UK.

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EXCERPTS

THE MOODLE-BASED LMS

While TBS had a student intranet portal called ‘Campusnet’ and a Student Information System (SIS) to enable smooth academic coordination and communication, but it did not have a learning management system. The senior management at TBS felt that there is a need for such a system considering that students were spending a lot of their time on their devises such as laptop computers and smart phones, and on the Internet. In January 2012, efforts were initiated to plan, design and implement a robust LMS at TBS. It was a major technological initiative by the senior management in support of e-learning and for connecting with students beyond the classroom by providing them with flexi-learning opportunities. Additionally it was a step towards promoting paper-less learning and teaching practices (case links, online assessments, assignments, quiz, case analysis, and online attendance) for saving on paper cost and also running more sustainable operations.

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THE OPERATING MODEL

The LMS had three different interfaces. One meant for the students’ log in, one for the teacher’s access and the last one for the administrators to manage the site. The teacher’s interface facilitated four prime functionalities. Firstly, it enabled storing, organizing and sharing of learning resources. A course instructor could create sessions in the session scheduler as per the session plan; add multimedia resources to sessions, store and share learning resources through external repositories (such as Google Docs and Drop Box ) and provide access to library databases to students. Secondly, the LMS facilitated interaction and communication.

THE INITIAL RESPONSE

The initial response of the users to the users was measured. However, some of the faculty members who were involved in the process right from the beginning were more positive about the new development. According to Hiten, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics...

MAJOR CONCERNS

In the series of formal meetings called by the Director and the systems team in July 2012 with the course instructors for semester I, the general consensus was that except for some technical glitches, all the teachers benefitted by the use of the LMS. However, problems surfaced with the onset of the IInd semester...

THE ROAD AHEAD

It was nearly a year since the launch of the new LMS. The administrators were disappointed with the results, despite so much of hard work and investment going into developing the system. The senior management of TBS was not happy given the increasing costs every month. Not only was the LMS not able to measure up to the high expectations of the management, but they were also faced with complaints related to the system, de-motivated course instructors, and confused students.

EXHIBIT

Exhibit 1:Academic Calendar at TBS

Exhibit 2:Cost Incurred per Month (2012)

Exhibit 3:The LMS Student Interface

Exhibit 4:Capabilities Required at Different Levels

Exhibit 5:Cost incurred per Month after Contract Revision (January, 2013)

Exhibit 6:Projected cost to be incurred per month (March, 2013)

Appendix I:Technical Note on Moodle based LMS

Appendix II:Understanding Technology Acceptance Findings from Vineet’s Research