Concerns of university teachers about the adoption of the Moodle learning management system in a Ghanaian University campus

ABSTRACT

A cross-sectional survey was conducted to explore university teachers’ stages of concerns (SoC) about the adoption of the Moodle LMS at the Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED), Ghana. Hundred and thirty-one (131) participants (university teachers) were randomly selected from the Kumasi Campus of AAMUSTED to participate in the study. Results revealed that the university teachers had primary and secondary concerns at the personal and consequence stages of the SoC, respectively. At the awareness stage, they reported having low levels of concerns. Participants’ socio-demographics (i.e. gender, age, educational qualification, rank, and teaching experience) had no significant relationship with the overall stages of concerns. Implications of these findings have been discussed to help address university teachers’ concerns about the adoption of online learning management systems in HEIs in low- and middle-income countries, where online education is rife with issues.

KEYWORDS:

• University teachers’ concerns
• CBAM
• Moodle LMS
• stages of concerns
• LMICs

1 Introduction

All over the world, governments and educational institutions are now vigorously promoting technology integration, to facilitate remote learning opportunities for students. This initiative of governments and higher education institutions has become necessary due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the last quarter of 2019. In early 2020, most governments around the world imposed restrictive measures, as directed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), to slow the spread of the deadly virus. For example, Ghana (a lower-middle-income country in the SSA region) imposed a “No crowd gathering and social distance restriction” to reduce crowd gathering and formation in all sectors, following WHO recommendations. Educational institutions, in particular, were determined to control the spread of the virus, by imposing restrictions on face-to-face teaching and learning activities. They (educational institutions) were forced to reduce their class sizes and contact hours, or even close their schools entirely. At the peak of the pandemic, globally, it was estimated that nearly 1.6 billion learners were affected in over 190 countries, owing to school restrictive policies adopted and implemented by governments, in an attempt to stop the virus from spreading (United Nations [UN], 2020). The UN further reports that the closure of schools has negatively affected over 94% of the world’s student population, with up to 99% of these students living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where children and youth education is a major policy concern. In line with this, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (2020) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) (2021) projected that, extending school closures could result in a considerable loss of educational opportunities and human capital, leading to diminished economic opportunities in the medium and long term. Most governments, especially those in LMICs, then recognised the need to introduce new strategies and tools to educate students at all levels of education. Governments and various educational institutions developed and implemented different digital content platforms, to offer education to learners of all ages and stages of development. In this respect, Dhavan (2020) indicates that COVID-19 offered schools and learning centres an excellent opportunity to implement, or improve their digital learning cultures.

Although the integration of technologies into education (i.e. Educational Technology “EdTech”) and its impact on teaching and learning is not a new development (see Gasaymeh, 2017; Sarfo, Amankwah, & Konin, 2017), scholars have paid considerable attention to it, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent studies have focused on how EdTech may be particularly well-suited to support learning during the COVID-19 crisis (Dampson, 2021), especially in resource-poor settings like the LMICs (Mtebe, 2015; Syed, Ahmad, Alaraifi, & Rafi, 2020), found with limited access to electricity and internet connectivity, as well as low levels of smartphone and computer usage (Danner & Pessu, 2013; Ndemo, 2020). Findings indicate that, EdTech could address issues like appropriately-levelled education by facilitating instructions which are tailored to each student’s particular needs (Bervell & Umar, 2017). As a result of the covid-19 pandemic, the use of digital Learning Management Systems (LMS) (defined as web-based technologies/software used to design, implement, and assess specific learning processes (Gasaymeh, 2017)), has increased significantly. Specifically, LMS-mediated instructional activities have become increasingly popular in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in LMICs. They (LMS) provide instructional platforms to promote distance learning and complement face-to-face teaching (Dias & Diniz, 2014).

Globally, educational researchers have highlighted the complexity and difficulty of teachers adopting LMS (e.g. Moodle) in institutions of higher learning (Bervell & Umar, 2017; Dampson, 2021). In LMICs, challenges to LMS applications include lack of professional expertise, teacher resistance to change, and inadequate network connectivity, among others (Danner & Pessu, 2013; Ndemo, 2020; Syed et al., 2020). Hargreaves, cited in Sarfo, Amankwah and Konin (2017), for instance, indicates that LMS-mediated teaching and learning platforms in the 21^st century, particularly in this COVID-19 era, are an increasingly complex task, where teachers are faced with “a triangle of interests and imperatives” (p. 3). Because of these complexities, teachers are more likely to express a variety of concerns (questions, feelings, worries, and anxieties) during the implementation and adoption phases. The complexity of EdTech adoption in higher education, particularly in LMICs, necessitated the provision of professional training and development programmes to significantly improve teachers’ ICT skills during the COVID-19 era (Ndemo, 2020). For such training and development programmes to fulfil their purposes, insights into teachers’ concerns about innovation adoption are necessary (Cobbold & Ani-Boi, 2011). This research aims to provide a preliminary attempt in this direction.

The assessment of teachers’ concerns about innovation has gained popularity in academia across different geographic contexts (see Apau, 2021; Muzira & Muzira, 2020; Sarfo, Amankwah, Baafi-Frimpong, & Asomani, 2017). Nonetheless, investigations into innovation adoption in the educational contexts in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries – typically university teachers’ concerns about innovation implementations – have been paltry (Sarfo et al., 2017). Previous studies, to a large extent, have focused on the concerns of high and basic school teachers in adopting curriculum innovations (e.g. Agormedah, Ansah, Betakan, & Parker, 2019; Apau, 2021; Cobbold & Ani-Boi, 2011; Kwarteng, 2016; Sarfo et al., 2017). For example, Agormedah et al. (2019) used the CBAM to investigate teachers’ concerns about implementing curriculum innovations in Ghanaian high schools. However, concerns about the adoption of curriculum innovations in high schools and the adoption of LMS innovations (e.g. Moodle) at HEIs are distinct (Bervell & Umar, 2017; Dampson, 2021). In this respect, research findings on teachers’ concerns about curriculum innovation in elementary and high schools alone are not sufficient to adopt and implement LMS platforms (e.g, Moodle); thus, contributing little to the development of LMS-mediated learning in HEIs in LMICs.

Recent interest in providing LMS-mediated instructional activities by HEIs in developing countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, has led to the study of university teachers’ concerns about the implementation of some LMS platforms. Of note are the findings of studies on university teachers’ concerns about innovation adoption in some developed and emerging economies. They (studies) suggest that university teachers’ concerns about LMS adoption are high at the awareness, but low at the self and task stages (Gasaymeh, 2017; Masrom, 2013; Matar, 2015). Moreover, some studies have assessed the association between teachers’ sociodemographics (e.g. age, gender, teaching experience, etc.) and stages of concern (Apau, 2021; Sarfo et al., 2017; Ogbonna, 2020). These studies’ findings, however, are inconclusive (see Agormedah et al., 2019; Apau, 2021), necessitating calls for research into these sociodemographic characteristics and stages of concern (Agormedah et al., 2019; Apau, 2021; Gudyanda & Jita, 2018; Ogbonna, 2020). Heeding calls to explore teachers’ concerns about the adoption of LMS platforms by HEIs in LMICs (Mtebe, 2015), and as a timely response to the ongoing emphasis on EdTech application in the current COVID-19 pandemic, the assessment of university teachers’ concerns about the adoption of the Moodle LMS at the Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED) – one of the youngest public universities in Ghana, is imperative. More specifically, we draw on the CBAM framework to contribute to theory and practice by assessing: (1) university teachers’ concerns about the adoption of the Moodle LMS at AAMUSTED, (2) whether university teachers’ stages of concerns differ significantly across gender and age, and (3) whether university teachers’ age, gender, educational qualification, rank and teaching experience, when combined, predict stages of concerns.

This descriptive survey study is hoped to offer preliminary evidence that will encourage university authorities to develop appropriate tailor-made training programmes (e.g, seminars and workshops) to help manage university teachers’ concerns, uncertainties, anxieties, and perceptions about the adoption of the (Moodle) LMS.

2 Literature review

2.1 Innovativeness of Ghanaian higher education system

Ghana is a West African country with a population of 30,832,019 million people (Ghana Statistical Service, 2021) and an estimated GDP per capita of $2,205.5 in 2020. With a vast population of young people (56.44%), the government has implemented educational reforms and innovations to boost young adults’ access to high-quality tertiary education and reduce learning disparities, as well as the amount of physical, social, and reproductive health risks they encounter (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, 2019). The current education system in Ghana consists of two years of kindergarten education, six years of primary education, three years of junior high school education, three years of senior high school education and four years of university degree programmes. Ghana boasts of 304 public and private universities and colleges of education and health, 145 accredited vocational institutes and affiliated training and education colleges.

Technology integration in Ghanaian HEIs has received much attention from government and university management, over the past two decades. This has become necessary, as a result of the increasing demand for higher education among qualified applicants, despite several obstacles such as infrastructure deficit, high lecturer-student ratios, and high costs of campus-based instructions. To address these issues, most educational stakeholders, including government and educational administrators, believe that incorporating technology into higher education will increase educational access and opportunity for the nation’s young adults. Consequently, the government of Ghana, in 2008, developed and implemented the ICT for Accelerated Development (ICT4AD) Policy. The policy required the use of technologies and media for teaching and learning across all levels of education in Ghana. The policy augmented the introduction of ICT as a subject and the construction of technology infrastructure (e.g. ICT resource centres) in tertiary and pre-tertiary education settings. Despite efforts to integrate technologically-induced platforms (such as Moodle) into education, most lecture halls and pre-tertiary classrooms are not digitally equipped to allow large-class instruction. Research indicates that many of these HEIs in the country are slow to adopt the new models of operation, failing to contribute substantially to social innovation to address societal problems (Sarfo & Yidana, 2016). Likewise, majority of lecturers in institutions of higher learning are not technologically inclined to integrate technology-mediated platforms such as the Moodle LMS technologies into their teaching; as a result, technology usage among lecturers is low (Mtebe, 2015). Again, prior studies show that the use of the (Moodle) LMS is fraught with numerous challenges (Dampson, 2021). For instance, Danner and Pessu (2013) indicate that the use of technological tools in HEIs in Africa is prone to lack of access to computers and internet connectivity, as well as other related issues, such as low levels of competency among students and lecturers. Similarly, Mereku, Yidana, Hordzi, Tete-Mensah, and Williams (2009) discovered a gap between policy initiatives and actual technology use in Ghanaian schools. The authors reasoned that investments in technology integration, particularly in the higher education institutions, have not been substantial, as expected. This is concerning since lecturers are required to incorporate (educational) technologies into their teaching to meet the needs of tertiary students, during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. According to the OECD (2020), the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed almost all spheres of human activities, with academic institutions altering almost every normal way of teaching and learning. HEIs have completely transitioned from face-to-face teaching and learning to the online mode to be able to continue with academic work, in the wake of the covid pandemic. As a result, proper training and support are required to alleviate lecturers’ concerns and enable them to effectively use LMS platforms, in their everyday teaching and learning activities.

2.2 Theoretical framework: concerns-based adoption model (CBAM)

The assessment of teachers’ concerns about innovation has gained popularity in academia across different geographic contexts (Appau, 2021; Gokcek & Baki, 2013; Jogezai, Ismail, & Baloch, 2018; Msall & Panther, 2020; Wang, 2014). Several theoretical models have been used in prior studies to examine the various concerns of implementing innovation. The Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) (Hall, Wallace, & Dossett, 1973), is perhaps, one of the most exhaustive models for assessing teachers’ concerns about a new programme or innovation (Anderson, 1997). The model illustrates how individuals who are most affected by a new programme or innovation, react to its implementation process (Hord, Rutherford, Huling, & Hall, 1987). Hord et al. (1987) observed that CBAM is premised on the fact that, effective implementation of an innovation is a highly personal process. CBAM consists of three essential models for assessing concerns about innovation: The Stages of Concerns (SoC), Levels of Use, and Innovation Configurations (IC) models (Hall & Hord, 2015). Among these, the SoC has been considered a highly reliable theoretical framework for assessing concerns about innovation (George et al., 2006; Hall & Hord, 2015), and is commonly employed by over 90% of empirical studies which measure individual’s concerns about the implementation of an innovation (Appau, 2021; Dubey & Alam, 2014; Jogezai et al., 2018; Msall & Panther, 2020; Wang, 2014).

The SoC model (Hall et al., 1973), whichis based on Fuller’s (1969) work, was developed to address the concerns of teachers in training. Hall and colleagues (1979) examined the concerns teachers faced with innovation and hypothesised a developmental progression of seven SoC. They are:

Stage 0–Awareness: The implementers or adopters have little knowledge of the innovation and, as such, have no interest in taking any responsibility or action.

Stage 1–Informational: The implementer shows general awareness of the innovation and is interested in learning more about it, particularly about its substantive aspects.

Stage 2–Personal: The implementer is uncertain about the requirements of the innovation and his/her knowledge and skills to meet the innovation demands.

Stage 3–Management: The implementer is worried about adopting the innovation and using available resources and information appropriately.

Stage 4–Consequence: The implementer focuses his/her attention on the effect of innovation on him/herself and the learners.

Stage 5–Collaboration: The implementer is more interested in cooperating with other implementers to make the innovation function.

Stage 6–Refocusing: The implementer assesses the innovation and makes valuable suggestions for improvement, or thinking about the alternative ideas that would function effectively and efficiently.

From the SOC framework, implementers can experience several concerns concurrently, but with different intensity levels (Kwarteng, 2016). Essentially, teachers are expected to progress from self-oriented (awareness, informational and personal), through task-oriented (management), to impact-oriented concerns (consequences, collaboration, and refocusing) (George, Hall, & Stiegelbauer, 2006). Although each stage is distinctive, they are not mutually exclusive (Hord, 1990). Thus, once teachers’ general concerns have been identified, they may be able to categorise their stages of concerns and plan ways to support the movement to a higher developmental level.

The SOC model’s predictive power in measuring teachers’ concerns about innovation implementation is well supported by empirical evidence (Bailey & Palsha, 1992; Hall & Hord, 2015). In line with empirical studies supporting the predictive capabilities of the SOC for measuring teachers’ concerns in respect of innovation implementation, this study adopts the model to form the theoretical framework for assessing university teachers’ concerns about the implementation of the LMS Moodle in a newly established university in Ghana, a lower-income country with substantial policy challenges in youth education.

2.3 Studies on teachers’ concerns about the adoption of (Moodle) LMS

The relevance of integrating technologies such as the (Moodle) LMS into the teaching and learning process is well documented in the EdTech literature. This has motivated scholars to investigate the factors which influence the successful adoption of the Moodle LMS, as well as teachers’ concerns about the Moodle LMS adoption process, using the CBAM stages of concerns. For instance, the study of Untiedt (2014), using South African university lecturers as a study sample (N = 54), examined teachers’ concerns about curriculum innovation. The author discovered that HEI educators had significant concerns at the awareness, management, personal and informational stages. Similarly, in investigating university teachers’ concerns about the use of LMS in Malaysia, Masrom (2013) reported that university teachers’ had their most significant concerns at the awareness, self, and task stages and their lowest concerns at the refocusing stage. In Jordan, Matar (2015) employed the CBAM stages of concerns to evaluate e-learning system usage in HEIs. The results indicated that, faculty members’ high concerns were at the informational and management stages. Another empirical study by Gudyanga and Jita (2018), with data from South Africa, found that university lecturers have the highest concerns at self-stage. In a more recent study, Muzira and Muzira (2020), using university teachers in Zimbabwe, revealed that teachers in HEI reported their highest concerns at the personal stage and least concerns at the refocusing stage.

In the Ghanaian education context, some studies have explored teachers’ concerns about curriculum and/or innovation implementation, using the CBAM stages of concerns. For example, Cobbold and Ani-Boi (2011), with the use of a descriptive survey design, investigated teachers’ concerns regarding the implementation of the 2007 educational reform. The authors revealed that, teachers had intense personal and management concerns and low informational concerns. Similarly, a study by Sarfo et al. (2017), with data from basic school teaching staff, revealed that teachers’ had their primary and secondary concerns at the informational and consequence stages, respectively, and their least concerns at the awareness stage. In a study conducted on High School teachers, Agormedah et al. (2019) reported that teachers had higher concerns at the consequence and informational stages but lower concerns at the awareness stage. A more recent study by Apau (2021) with samples from Elementary and High schools in Ghana reported that, teachers had higher concerns at the collaboration and refocusing stages and lower concerns at the management stage.

It is worth noting that empirical research on teachers’ concerns regarding innovations in Ghanaian schools has primarily focused on senior high and basic school teachers’ concerns about implementing curriculum innovations (e.g. Agormedah et al., 2019; Apau, 2021; Cobbold & Ani-Boi, 2011; Sarfo et al., 2017), with limited efforts committed to the assessment of university teachers’ concerns about the integration of LMS innovations (e.g. Moodle). On the strength of the above discussions, the first objective of this study was to examine university teachers’ concerns about the adoption of the Moodle LMS.

2.4 Comparing teachers’ concerns about the implementation of innovations across gender and age

Previous studies have indicated that the role of gender and age are necessary considerations in assessing teachers’ concerns about innovation implementation (Cetinkaya, 2012). Findings from these studies indicate gender differences in the various stages of concerns about innovation. In most studies, female teachers report higher concerns at the management and refocusing stages of concerns, compared with their male counterparts (Alshammari, 2000; Sarfo et al., 2017). In another breadth, Cetinkaya (2012) revealed that male teachers report higher concerns at the awareness and lower at the collaboration stages than their female counterparts, and assigned gender role socialisation (which reinforce traditional gender stereotypes and affect male and female teachers’ acceptance, interest and concerns of new technologies differently (Sarfo, Debrah, Amankwah, Owusu – Mensah, & Hartsell, 2022), as accounting for the variance. Furthermore, differences in male and female teachers’ concerns about innovation integration are explicable by gender-specific behaviour patterns, as indicated by some scholars that women tend to be less experienced and skilled in the use of innovation (Kong, Chai, Tan, Hasbee, & Ting, 2014), and suffer greater levels of computer anxiety (Sarfo et al., 2017), hence express varying concerns about ICT integration. Notwithstanding this, there is evidence that the gender gap is narrowing over time. In this respect, Kaplan (2011) reported no significant difference between male and female teachers’ concerns about innovation integration. In the same vein, Gudyanda and Jita (2018) found no significant difference between male and female teachers in their stages of concerns. Predominantly, findings on gender differences in teachers’ concerns about the integration of new technologies are inconsistent, pointing to the need for further studies in different geographic contexts. Therefore, the current study investigated whether or not there were gender differences in the stages of concerns of the Moodle LMS integration, especially in this era of accelerated integration of e-learning platforms. If gender gaps existed, management of HEIs will need to take gender variations into account, when implementing the model LMS integration policies and initiatives.

In computer technology-related studies, teachers’ age has been researched concerning their acceptance, interest, and concerns about new technologies (Yawson & Yamoah, 2021). Grounded in the generational cohort theory (Ryder, 1965), teachers’ acceptance, adoption, interest, and concerns about ICTs show significant age differences (Yawson & Yamoah, 2021). Older adults (i.e. Generation X “1965–1979” – individuals classified as the first to grow up with computers, appreciate feedback, and want to know about progress) record different needs and concerns, compared with younger adults (i.e. Generation Y “1980-1995 – individuals who grew up with computers and experienced its use in education; and Generation Z “1996–2003” – individuals known for their dependency on computer technologies) (Yawson & Yamoah, 2020), regarding the integration of new technologies. For instance, Hadjipavli (2011) in a study on teachers’ concerns about new technologies using samples from secondary school teaching staff in Cyprus, found that older teachers reported high concerns at the informational and refocusing stages. A recent study by Walker (2017) shows that, teachers of younger ages reported their intense concerns at the collaboration and refocusing stages. The author assigned teachers’ characteristics and attributes derived from their birth generations as accounting for the variance. Similarly, the significant variations in teachers’ needs, interests, and concerns about the integration of new technologies across generations have been explained by the argument offered by Sarfo et al. (2017), that, most senior teachers received their education before the computer age, thus have less computer experience than their younger counterparts. Deviating from these findings are the outcomes discussed by Lochner, Conrad, and Graham (2015), that teachers’ concerns about the integration of new technologies do not record significant differences across generations. Similarly, Apau’s (2021) study on teachers’ concerns about new technologies revealed no significant differences between older and younger teachers. Therefore, the literature on this subject is split, with Sarfo et al. (2017) indicating that additional research into intergenerational (age) differences in teachers’ concerns regarding the integration of new technologies in HEIs, particularly in LMICs, is essential.

A dearth of studies has investigated the joint impact of sociodemographic factors on teachers’ concerns about the integration of new technologies in education. Consistently, the outcome of these studies are mixed – while Tafai’s (2017) study revealed the combined impact of age and teaching experience on teachers’ stages of concerns, Agormedah et al. (2019) discovered that gender, age, and teaching experience when taken together, had no significant relationship with teachers’ stages of concerns. Similarly, Apau (2021), studying the joint influence of socio-demographic factors on stages of concerns about new curriculum innovation, revealed that, teachers’ stages of concern were not significantly predicted by gender and educational qualifications.

These findings on the role of teacher socio-demographic characteristics in the prediction of their concerns regarding the integration of new technologies have been discovered in developed countries, with little attention to LMICs, especially SSA where education faces major policy issues. In the light of these, the second and third objectives of this study were to explore whether or not, university teachers’ (a) stages of concerns differ significantly across gender and age, and (b) age, gender, educational qualification, rank, and teaching experience, when combined, predict stages of concerns.

3 Methods

3.1 Research context

The Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED), is Ghana’s first publicly owned Technical, Vocational, and Entrepreneurial University, established in August 2020, by Act (Act 1026). The school was carved out of the University of Education, Winneba, with the special mandate to provide higher education in technical, vocational, and entrepreneurial training, to develop skilled manpower for job creation and economic development. AAMUSTED is located in one of the two main cosmopolitan, geographical locations in Ghana (i.e. the Ashanti Region) having diverse economic, technological, ethnic, and socio-cultural compositions. The school enrols students from the various geographic regions of Ghana and other African countries – with the students having diverse socio-economic, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds. AAMUSTED classroom compositions are of the typical multi-group school character; composed of students and lecturers of different sexes and ages. It is seen as the largest TVET University in Ghana, having over27,804 student population. The school offers different undergraduate, postgraduate, sandwich, diploma, and certificate courses and programmes, under different departments and faculties.

3.2 Participants and procedure

The participants for this study consist of the teaching staff (lecturers) of the Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED), Ghana. Questionnaires were distributed to one hundred and forty (140) university teachers, randomly selected, during faculty meetings. Before data collection, consent letters with information about the goals of the study, were sent to Faculty Deans and Departmental Heads, and teacher consents were obtained, to ensure voluntary participation. The study protocol was approved by the Faculty of Education and Communication Sciences Graduate Research Review Committee.

Nine (9) (i.e. 6.43%) of the 140 teachers contacted did not return their questionnaire. The final sample (131) for the study consisted of 92 (70.23%) males and 39 (29.77%) females, with more than half (n = 107,81.68%) of them being over 41 years old and 24 (18.32%) being under 41 years old. The majority of the participants (n = 106, 80.92%) were full-time university teachers, with only a few (n = 26, 19.85%) being part-time university teachers. Again, 26 (19.85%) of the sampled participants were assistant lecturers, 63 (48.09%) lecturers, 40 (30.53%) senior lecturers, and 2 (1.53%) professors. With their educational qualification, 89 (67.94%) of the university teachers had master’s degree, while 42 (32.06%) had doctoral degree.

3.3 Measures

3.3.1 Teacher concerns about innovation

Teachers’ concerns about innovation implementation were measured with the Stages of Concerns Questionnaire (SoCQ) developed by Hall and Hord (1987). The SoCQ consisted of 35 items, disaggregated into seven subscales: Awareness, Informational, Personal, Management, Consequence, Collaboration, and Refocusing. The scale was slightly modified by replacing “faculty” and “innovation” in the original questionnaire with “lecturer” and “Moodle LMS”, respectively, to make the items clearer and easier for the respondents to understand. The participants indicated their concerns about the Moodle LMS adoption on a 4-point scale: Irrelevant (1), not true of me now (2), somewhat true of me now (3), and very true of me now (4). Reliability and validity of the SoCQ have been established in previous studies (Bailey & Palsha, 1992; Cetinkaya, 2012; Hall & Hord, 2015), and in the current study (with a = .83 for the Awareness, .75 for the Informational, .77 for the Personal, .81 for the Management, .86 for the Consequence, .74 for the Collaboration, and .71 for the Refocusing subscales, respectively).

3.3.2 Participants’ socio-demographics

Participants were asked to provide information on a variety of socio-demographic characteristics. These socio-demographics were included in the current study, due to their significant influence on teachers’ concerns about innovation adoption (Agormedah et al., 2019; Apau, 2021; Cetinkaya, 2012). The socio-demographic characteristics considered in this study include: gender (measured on 1 = male, 2 = female), education qualification (measured on 1 = Master’s Degree and 2 = Doctoral degree), rank (measured on a four-step scale:1 = Assistant Lecturer, 2 = Lecturer, 3 = Senior Lecturer, and 4 = Professor). Again, they reported their teaching experience in years which was later coded into three categories, to define teachers as early career (0 = < 7 years), mid-career (1 = 7–14 years), and advanced career (2 = ≥ 15 years) teachers (Whitaker et al., 2015). Further, the participants were asked to state their age and were later dichotomised (1 = under 41 and 2 = 41 or above).

3.4 Data analysis procedure

The data were first examined and coded according to the following coding criteria: irrelevant (1) to very true of me now (4). With the use of group profile analysis, we categorised the data into the seven stages of concern. Descriptive statistics were then used to obtain the means of the total sample in answering research question one, as suggested by George, Hall, and Stiegelbauer. The subsequent research questions were answered by employing inferential statistics of independent samples t-test and linear regression, using IBM-SPSS 24.

4 Results

4.1 Concerns of lecturers regarding the adoption of the Moodle LMS

To explore university teachers’ general concerns about the adoption of the Moodle LMS at AAMUSTED, means were calculated for each stage, ranging from Awareness concern to Refocusing concern. The results indicated that, lecturers generally had primary and secondary concerns at the personal and consequence stages, respectively, with their low concerns being at the awareness and informational stages. Mean values for the stages of concerns are plotted on simple slopes (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Profile of university teachers’ general concerns towards adoption of the Moodle LMS

4.2 Concerns about the adoption of the Moodle LMS across male and female lecturers

We compared the university teachers’ concerns in adopting the (Moodle) LMS across gender, using the independent samples t-test. The male university teachers scored lower on the awareness, personal, and consequence stages and higher on the informational, management, collaboration, and refocusing stages compared with their female counterparts. However, only the difference in the consequence stage was significant (see Table 1). Overall concerns were also high for the male lecturers than their female counterparts; however, the mean difference was not statistically significant, indicating that male and female university teachers have similar concerns about the adoption of the Moodle LMS. Mean scores for the comparison of stages of concerns across gender are presented in Table 1.

Table 1. University teachers’ gender and stages of concerns (N = 131).

Gender (Male:n = 93; Female: n = 38)		Concerns	Mean	SD	Df	T	P
Male			8.53	1.45
Female		Awareness	8.84	2.26
			8.69	1.86	13	−.95	.34
Male			9.82	2.07
Female		Informational	9.55	2.10
			9.68	2.09	13	.66	.50
Male			13.45	2.43
Female		Personal	13.50	2.50
			13.48	2.47	13	−.10	92
Male			10.56	2.05
Female		Management	10.13	2.36
			10.35	2.21	13	1.04	.30
Male			12.99	2.69
Female		Consequence	14.11	2.82
			13.55	2.76	13	−2.12	.04*
Male			12.68	3.37
Female		Collaboration	11.74	2.33
			12.21	2.85	13	1.57	.12
Male			10.04	2.96
Female		Refocusing	9.34	1.91
			9.69	2.44	13	1.35	.18
Male			78.06	6.25
Female		Overall Concerns	77.21	6.21
Total			77.64	6.23	13	.71	.48

* significant at 0.05.

4.3 Concerns about the adoption of the Moodle LMS across age groups

For the comparison of the university teachers’ concerns in adopting the Moodle LMS across age groups, lecturers aged below 41 years and those aged 41 and above reported relatively similar concerns at all the stages, with all the mean differences not significant. Table 2 shows the mean scores for the comparison of the stages of concerns across age groups.

Table 2. University teachers’ age and stages of concerns (N = 131).

Age (<41 years: n = 24; ≥41 years: n = 107)		Concern	Mean	SD	Df	T	P
Less than 41 years			8.92	1.77
41 years and above		Awareness	8.55	1.71
			8.74	1.74	13	.94	.35
Less than 41 years			9.33	1.97
41 years and above		Informational	9.83	2.10
			9.58	2.04	13	−1.06	.29
Less than 41 years			13.25	2.72
41 years and above		Personal	13.51	2.38
			13.38	2.55	13	−.48	.63
Less than 41 years			10.29	2.16
41 years and above		Management	10.47	2.15
			10.38	2.16	13	−.36	.72
Less than 41 years			12.67	2.62
41 years and above		Consequence	13.46	2.79
			13.07	2.71	13	−1.27	.21
Less than 41 years			12.25	2.33
41 years and above		Collaboration	12.44	3.29
			12.35	2.81	13	−.27	.79
Less than 41 years			10.63	2.47
41 years and above		Refocusing	9.66	2.12
			10.15	2.30	13	1.58	.12
Less than 41 years			77.33	5.26
41 years and above		Overall Concerns	77.93	6.44
			77.63	5.85	13	−.42	.68

Note: * significant at 0.05

4.4 University teachers’ Socio-demographics (Age, Gender, Teaching Experience, Rank, and Educational Qualification) as Predictors of Concerns about the adoption of the Moodle LMS

We examined whether the university teachers’ socio-demographics (i.e. gender, age, educational qualification, rank, and teaching experience) when taken together, predict their concerns about the adoption of the Moodle LMS. Linear regression analysis was conducted, with a summary of the results presented in Table 3. The five socio-demographic variables (gender, age, educational qualification, rank, and teaching experience), when combined, had no significant influence on university teachers’ concerns; F(5, 125) = .16; p > .05. The joint prediction (R = 0.08) accounted for 0.06% of the total variance of the university teachers’ concerns.

Further, we determined which demographic variables (gender, age, educational qualification, rank, and teaching experience) have a significant relative effect on the university teachers’ concerns. Table 3. shows the extent to which each of the demographic variables significantly contributed to the prediction of concerns, among the lecturers. None of the variables examined had a significant influence on the overall concerns (see Table 3).

Table 3. Relative contributions of the demographic variables to the prediction of teachers’ concerns.

	Standardised Estimates (t-statistics)		Std Error
Predictors
Gender	−.06(−.69)		1.221
Age	.05(.43)		1.768
EduQual	.00(.01)		1.310
Rank	.03(.23)		1.222
TeachExp	−.06(−.43)		.714
R	.08
R^2	.006
Adjusted R^2	−.03
F-value	.16^NS

EduQual – Educational Qualification, TeachExp – Teaching.

Experience, NS – Not significant. All estimates were not statistically

significant at *p < .05

5 Discussion

5.1 Summary of results

The current cross-sectional study examined a) university teachers’ concerns about the adoption of the Moodle LMS at AAMUSTED – Ghana, 2) whether university teachers’ concerns differ significantly across gender and age, and (3) whether their age, gender, educational qualification, rank, and teaching experience, when combined, predict their overall concerns about the adoption of the Moodle LMS at AAMUSTED.

First, our study findings indicate the levels of the university teachers’ concerns about the adoption of the Moodle LMS. The university teachers had their highest concerns at the personal stage. This outcome indicates that, faculty members are more concerned about how the integration of the Moodle LMS might affect them, concerning their daily teaching duties. One possible reason which can be assigned for this outcome is that, university teachers may not be certain about the effects of the (Moodle) LMS on their roles and responsibilities, and the commitment of time and effort needed, especially amid this pandemic. The finding suggests that, university teachers are concerned about the lack of relevant information on how to use the Moodle LMS. This result is consistent with previous studies (Barri, 2013; Cobbold & Ani-Boi, 2011; Jogezai et al., 2018; Muzira & Muzira, 2020; Walker, 2017). For instance, a recent study by Masmali (2020) reported that, teachers implementing the Future Gate LMS had a high concern at the personal stage. On the contrary, this study’s finding contradicts that of Hadjipavli (2011), who discovered that, secondary school teachers in Cyprus had their greatest concerns at the awareness, informational, and refocusing stages.

Our study discovered that, university teachers have their second-highest concern at the consequence stage. This discovery implies that, teachers are concerned (worried) about the effect of the (Moodle) LMS on their teaching performance (using Moodle to deliver instructions) and students’ learning activities. This could be attributable to the lack of requisite knowledge and competencies in using the Moodle LMS effectively, to support their teaching. Our study’s result confirms the earlier findings of Sarfo et al. (2017), who indicated that, teachers had their second-highest concern at the consequence stage. On the contrary, it contradicts earlier studies by Lochner et al. (2015) and Masmali (2020).

Again, the faculty members’ indicated their third-highest concern at the collaboration stage, an indication that university teachers are concerned about coordinating their time and effort with other colleagues, to maximise the effectiveness and efficiency of using the (Moodle) LMS. Impliedly, lecturers having collaboration concerns indicate they had developed an interest in cooperating and sharing teaching and technological ideas regarding the adoption of the Moodle LMS, to facilitate their teaching. Gasaymeh (2017) indicates that, teachers who are very much concerned about collaboration have a strong desire to cooperate with their colleagues, to learn more about innovation. This, to some extent, was ascertained in the this study, when lecturers had their greatest concerns about collaboration and personal issues, regarding the adoption of the Moodle LMS. For instance, when lecturers are uncertain about their capabilities and self-confidence in using/adopting the (Moodle) LMS, they may seek help from colleagues who have adequate knowledge and skills on the Moodle. The finding that faculty members have collaboration concerns, is consistent with the outcome of Gasaymeh’s (2017) study, but contradicts several empirical studies (Gudyanda & Jita, 2018; Jogezai et al., 2018; Masrom, 2013; Matar, 2015; Untiedt, 2014; Yoon & Kang, 2018).

Our study again revealed that, lecturers had low concerns at the awareness stage. This self-concern implies that, the faculty members were very aware of the (Moodle) LMS and, were more likely to spend little time thinking about it. By implication, the study cohorts (lecturers) were early adopters, with a strong preference for the (Moodle) LMS over other modes of instruction, during the covid-19 pandemic. This result could be attributed to the lecturers’ collaborative efforts they shared with other faculty members, regarding the (Moodle) LMS. The finding of our study is consistent with the earlier findings by Apau (2021), Sarfo et al. (2017), and Agormedah et al. (2019), who found the awareness stage to be teachers’ least important concern. Nonetheless, it contradicts those of Barri (2013), Gasaymeh (2017), Lochner et al. (2015), Masrom (2013), Muzira and Muzira (2020), Walker (2017), and Yoon and Kang (2018).

In addition, the university teachers reported their second-lowest concerns at the informational stage. This, therefore, indicates that faculty members’ have adequate information about the (Moodle) LMS and willing to learn more about it. The possibility of lecturers having low informational concerns could be attributed to workshops organised for lecturers and several circulars issued before and during the adoption of the (Moodle) LMS. This finding supports the claim of the study by Vaughan (1997), that staff development and training equip faculty members with requisite knowledge and skills about educational innovation, thereby enhancing its adoption. Perhaps, this can also explain why the lecturers reported their lowest concerns at the awareness stage. On the contrary, this finding is at variance with the empirical studies of Gudyanga and Jita (2018); Matar (2015); Sarfo et al. (2017); Masmali (2020), and Yoon and Kang (2018).

Our study further discovered that gender does not affect the university teachers’ overall concerns. Thus, male and female university teachers had similar concerns about the adoption of the Moodle LMS. This finding supports the earlier empirical findings of Agormedah et al. (2019), Apau (2021), and Lochner et al. (2015), who discovered that gender has no impact on teachers’ stages of concerns. However, the our finding contradicts the studies of Barri (2013), Masmali (2020), and Sarfo et al. (2017), who reported a statistically significant relationship between gender and the stages of concerns. A statistically significant difference between the male and female university teachers’ concerns at the consequence stage was revealed by our study. Thus, our study indicates that female lecturers expressed more consequence concerns than the male lecturers. This means that female university teachers are particularly worried about the impact of the (Moodle) LMS on their teaching roles and responsibilities, than their male counterparts. One possible explanation for this finding is that the females are perceived to be more caring than the males (Ani-Boi, 2009); and more concerned about the impact of the (Moodle) LMS on their professional practice and development, as well as on their learners. Albeit, no significant differences between the male and female university teachers across the other stages of concerns were reported. This means that both male and female university teachers have similar concerns across all of the other concerns (awareness, informational, personal, management, collaboration, and refocusing).

Concerning age and the university teachers’ stages of concerns about the adoption of the (Moodle) LMS, it was found that the lecturers’ ages has no significant impact on their concerns. This implies that, the university teachers within the various age categories (below 40 years and 40 years or above) had similar concerns. This finding supports those discovered by Lochner et al. (2015), who found that age had no significant impact on teachers’ concerns, in a study which tracked K-12 teachers’ concerns in adopting the LMS in Georgia State, USA. Interestingly, our result contradicts Prensky’s concepts of “digital natives” and “digital immigrants”. Perhaps the older university teachers are becoming more knowledgeable and skilled about the usage of the Moodle and are as more motivated to continue in the adoption of the (Moodle) in their teaching, as their younger colleagues. A possible explanation could be the development of training programmes organised for all university teachers, before and during the adoption of the (Moodle) LMS.

Moreover, the study found that the university teachers’ demographic characteristics (i.e. gender, age, educational qualification, rank, and teaching experience), when taken together, had no significant influence on their stages of concerns. This, therefore, implies that university teachers’ concerns do not vary, as a result of their demographic characteristics. But, again, no demographic variable made a considerable contribution to the university teachers’ stages of concerns, in relative terms. Thus, gender, age, educational qualification, rank, and teaching experience, were not significant predictors of university teachers’ stages of concerns. This finding disagrees with Hadjipavli’s (2011) study result, which discovered that, gender and age were the best predictors of teachers’ concerns about the adoption of the LMS. However, it is at variance with the outcome discovered by Apau (2021) that age and experience are better predictors of teachers’ stages of concerns. In situating the present findings with previous findings, it coud be argued that more studies are needed to ascertain the relevance of these socio-demographic factors, in predicting teachers’ stages of concerns.

5.2 Implications and recommendations

The outcome of our study contains several practical implications for the adoption of the Moodle LMS in HIEs. The study findings posit that university teachers have their highest concerns at the personal, consequence, and collaboration stages. These findings indicate that faculty members are more worried about how the (Moodle) LMS adoption would personally affect their students and cooperate with other university teachers to share ideas to adopt the (Moodle) LMS, in their instructional practices and activities. It is expected that lecturers would be more concerned about how their students would be impacted, since they are the valued clients. The study also found that gender and age have no significant influence on university teachers’ stages of concerns. This means that, irrespective of the genders and ages of university teachers, their concerns are similar. Finally, our study revealed that demographic variables such as gender, age, educational qualification, rank, and teaching experience cannot predict university teachers’ stages of concerns, when taken together.

Within the scope of these findings, the following recommendations are made: First, to reduce the university teachers’ concerns, university management should continue to organise professional development programmes such as in-service training, workshops, etc., for the university teachers. These development programmes should address the personal concerns of lecturers, such as their uncertainty about the demands of the (Moodle) LMS and their roles in it, feelings of their inabilities to meet the innovation requirements, and any financial implications of the innovation for the university teachers. Second, to reduce the consequence concerns of university lecturers, professional development programmes should also emphasise the benefits that lecturers, students, and the entire university community can derive, when the (Moodle) LMS is fully adopted, even after the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, university management should address the collaboration concerns of university teachers. As a change agent, ICT coordinators should create virtual cooperative learning communities as platforms for university teachers to share their real-life experiences with the (Moodle) LMS with other university teachers, to encourage non-users to use it.

5.3 Limitations

Even though this study was conducted with the greatest caution, thus yielded valuable insights, the following limitations were identified: First, a cross-sectional design was adopted in this investigation, even though longitudinal or experimental design might have offered deeper insights. Therefore, the findings should be interpreted as the baseline to track the state of university teachers’ concerns about the adoption of the (Moodle) LMS, especially in SSA. Second, the generalisability of the study’s findings is a significant limitation, as Ghanaian samples are in no way comparable with those found elsewhere in Africa. We recommend, therefore, that replication of this study, utilising on-site data gathering methods such as observational techniques or in-depth interviews provide unbiased and comprehensive information for the assessment of lecturers’ concerns about the adoption of the Moodle LMS in LMICs.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interestis reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with this work.

Notes on contributors

Francis Amankwah

Francis Amankwah is a final-year PhD student and lecturer at the Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED), Ghana. He holds MPhil in Educational Leadership (Curriculum Development) and MEd in Computer Education and Technology from University of Education, Winneba (UEW), and Ohio University, respectively. His research interests span across technology integration in education, ICT curriculum development, and teacher education.

Frederick Kwaku Sarfo

Frederick Kwaku Sarfo, PhD, is a full Professor in Instructional Technology. He is the current Vice-Chancellor of Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED), Ghana. Additionally, he has served as a visiting scholar on The Coimbra and VLRIOUS Scholarships at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Science, Catholic University, Belgium. His research interests include integration of ICT in education, instructional design for learning, designing learning environments for the development of scientific, technical and vocational education, and curriculum development. His research works appear in key journals of international repute.

Michael Osei Aboagye

Michael Osei Aboagye, PhD, is a full-time lecturer at the Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED), where he teaches at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Michael is also an active member of the International Institute for Child Studies – Zhejiang Normal University (JNU), China. His research focuses on teacher education, teacher behavior in the teaching service profession, and student and teacher well-being. He has published in such top-tier journals as Children and Youth Services Review, Early Child Development and Care, Current Psychology, Psychological Studies, The Service Industries Journal, and Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services.

Daniel Konin

Daniel Konin is a Senior Assistant Registrar in charge of admissions at the Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED), Ghana. Konin holds M.Ed in Computer Education and Technology from Ohio University and M.TEC in Competency-Based Training from the University of Education, Winneba. His research interests include ICT in education, courseware, and material development.

Raphael Kwasi Dzakpasu

Raphael Kwasi Dzakpasu is a full-time lecturer and coordinator for the Institute for Teacher Education and Continuing Professional Development (ITECPD) at the Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED), Ghana. He holds an MPhil in Administration in Higher Education and MEd in Information Technology Education. His research interests include educational resources management, ethical issues in the teaching service, instructional design and integration of instructional technologies in education. He has published in local and international journals.