e-Learning and learning management systems (LMS) in a changing higher education environment

The paper draws on recent studies on the patterns of ICT adoption and use in higher education institutions in the Western Cape to show that technology adoption is on the rise at universities. A recent study on ICT, education, and change in higher education is also used to outline the conceptions, meanings, and implications of ICT – from the perspectives of different academics, managers, and IT practitioners in higher education institutions in South Africa. The position that ICT usage is incoherently lower than intake patterns within and between the institutions is put forward, in that there are more technology acquisitions, but less usage. It is also argued that conceptions and meanings attached to ICT by various stakeholders are inconsistent and divergent. As a result, increased adoption patterns of, and the impact that, e-Learning should have on teaching and learning processes are called into question in this paper. In view of a prevailing “conceptual stampede” on higher education and e-Learning vocabulary and practices, the ANT is employed to contextualize the relationship within e-Learning environments. The paper uses an example of high adoption levels against uneven usage patterns to argue for a socio-technical approach to the adoption and use of LMSs. It closes with an argument that e-Learning should not only be recognized but also treated as a socio-technical network between humans (educators, students, administrators), structures (learning groups, educator groups, institutions, policies), technology (a LMS) if it is to be successful.