The Acceptance of Learning Management Systems by Higher Education Faculty in an Educational Landscape Influenced by a Global Pandemic

This quantitative study investigated the perceptions of higher education faculty with respect to their behavioral intentions to use learning management systems and the perceived effect of COVID-19 on those intentions. An online survey was administered through private Facebook groups to faculty in higher education and listservs focused on technology in higher education. The sample size initially included 137 participants but participants were reduced to 121 due to incomplete responses on some surveys or not meeting the selection criteria for the research. The theoretical framework for this research was the intersection of the technology acceptance model and digital transformations. The data were analyzed using SPSS AMOS software to develop a structural equation model based on the technology acceptance model with the additional construct of the perceived effect of COVID-19 protocols. The results confirmed that the hypothesized model was a good fit and that COVID-19 had an effect on faculty members’ perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and attitude toward use of learning management systems. The results also confirmed high behavioral intentions to use learning management systems in the future. Key findings of this research included a shift in the technology acceptance model’s mediating variable that impacted the focus of professional development programs and the potential acceptance of learning management systems by higher education faculty in the foreseeable future