ANTECEDENTS AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OUTCOME OF BLACKBOARD USAGE: STUDENT INSIGHT DR. Ibrahim H.M. Magboul Community College of Qatar Business Administration & Computer Science Department

Introduction Technology-enabled learning is increasingly important and pervasive in higher education. Today learning management System (LMS) depends on different models and systems to facilitate learning process. Becker (2000) noticed that instructors with limited training were less likely to use blackboard technology . Yet, research examined how LMS structure participants’ experiences and replicate or diverge from traditional pedagogy, is still little. The aims of this study are to: (a) empirically investigate antecedents influencing blackboard usage among students of CCQ; (b) investigate the relationship between BB usage and student academic performance.

METHODOLOGY The targeted population of the study were CCQ students enrolled in the summer semester of the academic year 2017/2018. The total number of college students in the summer session are 1150 (sample size =302). The actual sample were 273 students responded to the questionnaire. In this survey- based study. Measurement of antecedents, usage and performance were adapted from the extant literature review with the five Likert scale from 1 strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree. Structural Equation Modelling was used to validate the proposed model of BB usage among CCQ students.

Results : Descriptive Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Male 130 47.6   Female 143 52.4 100.0 Total 273

Table 3. Major   Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Art 83 30.4 Science 52 19.0 49.5 Engineering 29 10.6 60.1 PA 43 15.8 75.8 BA 42 15.4 91.2 Media 24 8.8 100.0 Total 273

The Measurement model analysis The first step was to confirm the validity and reliability of the measurement model following the Partial Least Square Structural Equations Modeling (PLS SEM) approach using the SmartPLS 3.0 package. Prior to hypotheses testing, the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS- SEM) was employed to assess the measurement model.

Prediction quality of the model Endogenous Variable Adjusted R2 Q2 Blackboard Usage 0.334 0.186 Students’ academic performance 0.448 0.214

Structural Model

Hypotheses Testing Hyp. No. Relationship Path Coefficient STDEV t value p value Decision H1 Blackboard usage -> Students' academic performance 0.700*** 0.029 24.010 0.000 Supported H2 Information Center Support - > Blackboard usage 0.135* 0.056 2.412 0.016 H3 Perceived ease of use -> Blackboard usage 0.012 0.054 0.225 0.822 Not Supported H4 Perceived Usefulness -> Blackboard usage 0.122* 0.048 2.575 0.010 H5 Training -> Blackboard usage 0.163** 0.059 2.751 0.006 H6 User attitudes -> Blackboard usage 0.246*** 0.061 4.053 H7 User trust-> Blackboard usage 0.238*** 3.998

Conclusions The paper aims to obtain insight of the general usage of Blackboard platform via student experience on the application of Blackboard as the LMS. It also aims at examining the antecedents and performance outcomes of Blackboard among students of the CCQ in the summer session 2017-2018. Descriptively, the students reported high use of general application of IT, 90% used internet for some elements of learning. Over 70% of students also used e-mail as a way of communication with fellow students and with instructors

Conclusions Students highlighted the effectiveness of Blackboard in managing class activities (63%), in terms of transferring the information from the syllabus. Results show that training, information centre support, perceived usefulness, user attitude, and user trust were significant positive antecedents that affect blackboard usage while perceived ease of use was non-significant antecedent. The perceived ease of use was not supported by data due to the fact that the major challenge in terms of Blackboard technology usage was lack of the link between the platforms. The study reveals that blackboard usage has a positive effect on student academic performance