LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCES ACADEMICS ATTITUDES TOWARD ONLINE TECHNOLOGIES: IMPEDING FACTORS AND THE USE OF MOODLE

The Internet and web enables the development of new online tools such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, collectively known as ‘Web 2.0’ tools. The research paper reported here is an attempt to explore the role of these tools in teaching practice of library and information sciences (LIS). Semi-structured interviews were selected as a means of data collection in this study, which were conducted with academics and training supervisors at the Department of Information Studies (DIS) at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman. The study found that faculty has a high regard for the use of various online tools in education; however, few educators choose to use these tools in their teaching practice. Three factors as to why so few of the academics choose to use these tools in their teaching practice were found (1) Heavy workloads, combined with a lack of Internet services; (2) Concern about a lack of control of online tools content due to a lack of ownership; and (3) The use of other e-learning platforms such as Learning Management Systems and Moodle, which may impede use of various online tools. The study also found two different activities which are widely practiced among academics: (1) Resources and information sharing and (2) Using these tools as platforms for discussion.