Are We Managing Learning with Learning Management Systems?

Although Learning Management Systems (LMS) are ubiquitous in higher education, little is known about how faculty and students use them for blended learning. In this symposium, we present data from online surveys, system log data, and case studies to investigate the practice of university teaching with LMS to provide feedback about how to successfully implement these systems. We examine instructors' and students' attitudes about LMS and their use of these systems at different levels of analysis, looking across many institutions and increasingly narrowing the focus to several specific teaching vignettes. We organize our investigations of how instructors and students value the LMS by examining three types of use: Learner-Content interactions, Learner-Instructor interactions, and LearnerLearner interactions. We identify common themes and differences revealed by our analyses to make recommendations that are intended to improve teaching and learning with these systems.