Antecedents and Academic Performance Outcome of Blackboard Usage: Student Insight

Abstract

Information systems have been widely adopted, used and increasingly used in educational institutions during the last two decades. However, learning management system (LMS) has emerged and become an important education tool that has the potential to extend the boundaries of traditional classrooms by providing various array of opportunities for communication and interaction between students and their instructors. As a type of LMS, Blackboard (BB) is a mandatorily system used by Community College of Qatar (CCQ) students. What has remained largely under-studied is the relationship between student usage and academic performance.

The aims of this study are to: (a) empirically investigate antecedents influencing blackboard usage among students of CCQ (b) investigate the relationship between BB usage and student academic performance.

By purposive sampling, the data is based on a cross sectional survey conducted in Summer 2017. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) is deployed to analyse the data from 273 participants. Results show that training, information centre support, perceived usefulness, user attitude, and user trust were significant positive antecedents that affect blackboard usage while perceived ease of use was non-significant antecedent. Also, the study reveals that blackboard usage has a positive effect on student academic performance. This study helps educators better understand student BB usage so that they can provide more insights for the efficiency and effectiveness of LMS.