1. Bianca M. Lochner, PhD Rita-Marie Conrad, PhD Edward Graham, PhD
Secondary Teachers’ Concerns in Adopting Learning Management Systems: A U.S. Perspective
Bianca M. Lochner, PhD
Rita-Marie Conrad, PhD
Edward Graham, PhD
Richard W. Riley College of Educational Leadership

2. BACKGROUND
Increased number of teachers are finding themselves having to augment their instruction with the use of a Learning Management System (LMS), either voluntarily or as required by their schools (Kennedy & Archambault, 2012; Queen & Lewis, 2011).
Teacher involvement and willingness of teaching staff is essential to the integration of innovations in schools (Samiei, Fraser, & Laitsch, 2010).
The concerns of those involved in the adoption and implementation of an innovation are important to the success of the innovation (Hall & Hord, 2011).

3. PROBLEM
Growing need to explore the nature of concerns experienced by the educators who might not feel prepared or willing to use an LMS for instructional purposes.
Very little research examining the nature of teacher concerns about the implementation of LMSs.

4. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
To examine the type of concerns teachers have regarding the adoption of an LMS in U.S. secondary educational settings.
Research Question:
What is the most intense stage of concern of U.S. secondary teachers about the learning management system adoption, as measured by the stages of concerns questionnaire (SoCQ)?

5. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Concern-base adoption model (CBAM) (George, & Rutherford, 1979; Hall, Wallace, & Dossett, 1973) provided the theoretical framework to examine the personal side of the change process, specifically teacher concerns about the adoption of an innovation.
Main assumptions that underpin the model:
change is a process
change is individual
the perceptions and feelings of individuals are crucial to successful
implementation of an innovation
d) individuals proceed through stages in their feelings about and perceptions of an innovation
e) change facilitators must proceed systematically, assess regularly, and provide support continually (Hall et al., 1973; Hall & Hord, 2011).

6. STAGES OF CONCERN
Note. Adapted from “Implementing change: Patterns, principles, and potholes”, by G. E. Hall, and S. M. Hord, 2011, pp Copyright 2006, SEDL.

7. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE
Learning Management Systems as an Educational Innovation
Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM)
Stages of Concern

8. ASSUMPTIONS
The decision to adopt an LMS had already been made.
The LMS is an innovation designed to support educators in different subject areas and with varied teaching philosophies and instructional approaches.
Teaches had access to a computer and the Internet in their classrooms or at home to read and access the survey link.
Respondents answered the questions truthfully and they understood the questionnaire items.
Reliability and validity of the SoCQ instrument.

9. DELIMITATIONS
Selection of secondary teachers from a specific region of the United States.
Use of the CBAM as the theoretical framework.

10. RESEARCH DESIGN
A survey research design.
Teacher demographic characteristics (gender, age, teaching experience, educational level, grade level and subject taught) and teacher technographic characteristics (experience with instructional technology, experience with the LMS, type and duration of LMS professional development, and self-reported level of LMS use).
Teachers’ most intense stage of concern as measured by the stages of concern questionnaire (SoCQ).
Measure: Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ) (Hall, George, & Rutherford, 1977). A 35-item instrument that measures stages of concerns regarding an innovation.

11. POPULATION AND SAMPLE SIZE
The populations from which the samples were drawn included full-time teachers employed in the Arizona public secondary schools and that have already made the decision to adopt an LMS.
The sample size consisted of 206 participants. This number was based on a priori power analysis calculations computed as a function of power level 1-β, significance level α = .05, odds-ratio = 0.15, z-test, PR (Y = 1| X = 1) H0 = 0.2, R2 other X = 0, X distribution = Binomial, and X parm π = 0.5 using G*Power 3 software (Buchner, Erdfelder, Faul, & Lang, 2007).
Simple random sampling approach.
If a member of this sample declined to complete the survey, another individual was selected at random to replace the non-responder.

12. DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUES
Gained permission to use the published SoCQ instrument from the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL), the copyright holder.
Identified school districts in Arizona that have made the decision to adopt an LMS.
Created a list with contact information available as public records for all the secondary teachers employed in the school districts identified to have made the decision to adopt an LMS.
Assigned each member of the population a numerical label and used a program to randomly select potential participants based on these numerical labels.
Contacted potential participants and invited them to participate in the study using an invitation that contained the introduction, the purpose of the study, informed consent procedures, potential benefits for participating, and a link to the online survey. Moreover, this assured potential participants that their participation was voluntary, anonymous, and that the confidentiality of the data was ensured.
Undertook one additional attempts to contact potential respondents by sending reminder s.

13. DATA ANALYSIS
Means, standard deviations, frequencies, and percentages were used to describe teachers’ characteristics, as well as their LMS concerns.
Seven stages of concern measures using 35 items, each using an eight-point Likert scale and indicating the participants’ present concern regarding an innovation.
Averaged and converted the raw scale scores into percentiles to identify the teachers’ most intense stage of concern toward the LMS and to analyze respondents’ concern profiles.

14. The highest or most intense concerns of secondary U. S
The highest or most intense concerns of secondary U.S. teachers regarding the LMS adoption were awareness concerns, followed by management, personal, and informational concerns, with a tailing up of the refocusing concerns.
RESULTS

15. RESULTS

16. IMPLICATIONS
Insights from this study inform personalized interventions and strategies that will alleviate or resolve teachers concerns based on their concerns profile, helping teachers move toward more advanced use of the LMS, and that will facilitate increased rates of LMS adoption.
The study offers information for use and reference in implementing LMS to support learning and teaching in secondary educational institutions and organizations nationwide.
Findings from this study can lead to positive outcomes not only for secondary teachers, who will be better supported to integrate LMSs in their instruction, but also improved outcomes for the secondary student population, who may benefit from increased use of LMS activities that complement teachers’ instructional practice.

17. RECOMMENDATIONS
Chart the developmental growth of teachers’ LMS concerns over time.
Combine the strengths of quantitative and qualitative approaches to provide diverse perspectives and insights into understanding the complexity of teacher concerns.
Ground research in a number of other theoretical approaches to change.
Examine the concerns of the educators in the K-8 context, as well as the concerns of higher level educators.
Document and share exemplary methodologies and practices that make improvements in teaching and learning with the use of an LMS.

18. REFERENCES
Archambault, L., & Crippen, K. (2009). K--12 distance educators at work: Who's teaching online across the United States. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 41(4),
Hall, G. E., George. A., & Rutherford, W. (1979). Measuring stages of concern about the innovation: A manual for the use of the SoC questionnaire (Report No. 3032). Austin: The University of Texas, Research and Development Center for Teacher Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED )
Hall, G. E., Wallace, R. C, & Dossett, W. D. (1973). A developmental conceptualization of the adoption process within educational institutions. Austin, TX: The University of Texas, Research and Development Center for Teacher Education.

19. REFERENCES (cont.)
Hall, G. E., & Hord, S. M. (2011). Implementing change: Patterns, principles, and potholes. (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Kennedy, K., & Archambault, L. (2012). Offering preservice teachers field experiences in K-12 online learning: A national survey of teacher education programs. Journal of Teacher Education. 2(6), doi: /
Picciano, A. G., & Seaman, J. S. (2009). K-12 online learning. CUNY, NY: Sloan Consortium.

20. Bianca M. Lochner, PhD Rita-Marie Conrad, PhD Edward Graham, PhD
Secondary Teachers’ Concerns in Adopting Learning Management Systems: A U.S. Perspective
Bianca M. Lochner, PhD
Rita-Marie Conrad, PhD
Edward Graham, PhD
Richard W. Riley College of Educational Leadership