The research investigated the use of Moodle in three tertiary level English language programmes at an institution of higher learning in Namibia, using a qualitative approach. As the use of technology in education has become imperative, it was also mandatory for academics at the research site to incorporate technology into their teaching and learning. It aimed to investigate how Moodle was used to enhance English language teaching and learning, emanating from the need of similar studies in the field and at the research site. Also, the research aimed to uncover the successes and challenges that the lecturers and students experienced in the process of using Moodle. The research adopted a case study design with three embedded sub-units: three English language courses. Six lecturers and 15 students participated in the study. Data were collected through interviews, observation and document analysis and were analysed thematically. The research revealed how the lecturers and students involved in the three English language service courses were enthusiastic about using Moodle and a few successes were notable, but they were also challenged in different ways. Four of the lecturers considered themselves to be beginners as they had only recently started to use Moodle extensively, while the other two considered themselves average users of the system. The study revealed more challenges than successes. Minimal use of Moodle in the fundamental and intermediate English language courses, minimal use of the embedded Moodle communication tools, and limited knowledge and skills in using the system emerged as some of the key challenges. Although the institution had training mechanisms in place, both lecturer and student participants pleaded for more staff training opportunities to enable them to use the tools that were found to be underutilised: the blogs, chat and discussion forums. Drawing on the findings of the study, the guidelines for effective use of Moodle are suggested. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / Ph. D. (Education)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/26221 |
| Date | 16 January 2020 |
| Creators | Ithindi, Elina Tangeni |
| Contributors | Van den Berg, Geesje |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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