The Organisational Constraints of Blending E-Learning Tools in Education: Lecturers’ Perceptions

Abstract

This study investigated and identified the organizational factors that contribute to the poor adoption of technology such as the Sakai Learning Management System in education. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interview questions guided by Giddens’ structuration model. The participant lecturers were from one of the nineteen universities in Zimbabwe, a developing country where a sluggard uptake of Information and Communication Technologies is currently experienced. The situation not only prejudices the students from enjoying the affordances their counterparts in developed nations enjoy. It has also led to the emergence of the second order digital divide, a problem of concern to the researchers, ICT policy makers and the learning institution management, robbed of the anticipated returns on the costly technological investment. The paper contributes to the limited literature relating to the developing country lecturers’ perceptions of e-learning tools in teaching. The findings show that organizational factors play a major role in influencing either the lecturers’ positive or negative perceptions of e-learning system tools in education. In addition to the documented individual and technological factors, policy, budget, training, decision making, implementation and consultation techniques have been found to inhibit the successful integration of e-learning tools in the traditional teaching methods.