EMPOWERING TEACHERS IN COURSEWARE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS: THE CASE OF THE OLDEST UNIVERSITY IN ASIA

摘要

The professoriate is increasingly expected to infuse computer technology in teaching. However, there is dearth of qualitative data to either support or disprove this belief. This study thus aims to describe the experiences of a select group of college teachers in the oldest university in Asia, as they develop, implement, and evaluate their courseware materials. Ten (10) tenured faculty members who have developed, deployed, and evaluated their courseware materials were the participants of this qualitative inquiry. Initially, the teachers were made to fill out robotfotos for purposes of profiling their baseline characteristics. Data gathered were carefully analyzed and thematisized, based on internal and external homogeneity. Guided by a semi-structured audio-taped interview, this study captured the experiences of the teachers whose instructional paradigms were facilitated and revolutionized by a learning management system, specifically the Blackboard System. Findings show that generally, the professoriate considers the courseware materials developed as instructional adjuncts that complement their time-tested teaching modalities. Having identified a Learning Management System such as Blackboard, as a user-friendly system, issues relative to system's accessibility, technical difficulties, systemic training programs for teachers, attractive system of incentives, and user-readiness are key areas that ensure overall program success and viability.