Learning Management Systems for Teaching at University Level: Students’ Attitudes and Real Usage in the Classroom

Abstract

This chapter aims to present a group of undergraduates’ attitudes and real experiences with online management platforms in the classroom. The students involved in the present experiment were enrolled in a university course in English for specific purposes. The use of online management systems by university instructors has been limited to the upload of documents for students to consult; as a consequence, an alternative and more updated classification of tools and uses is described here, combining online and offline employments of such platforms. Using a socio-constructivist theoretical framework, online interaction among the different agents in the classroom is analysed, having the following results: Participants in the study manifested their preference towards small group interaction, communication and the online distribution of information as opposed to big group sessions and error-focused instruction. At the end of the chapter, further implications in group dynamics are also offered.