Structural Gender Differences in LMS Use Patterns among College Students

The aim of this study is to investigate male and female college students’ use patterns of a learning management system (LMS) in an e-learning environment. This study evaluated the structural differences between male and female college students in their LMS use patterns through a multifactor model. The research was conducted with 443 participants at a university in Korea. Four factor structures comprising 14 items measured on a five-point Likert scale were used for the analyses. After confirmatory structures for each gender were modified, the equivalence was examined by testing for factorial invariance and the latent means. The results indicated that, for three factors, male students used the LMS more than females and that neither gender preferred communicating and collaborating with each other. It was also found that students understood learning activities in more diverse ways than through theories. The results, which reflected Korea’s general educational context, indicated that a gender digital divide issue remains to be bridged and left recommendations for comprehensive development including the search for strategies for more participative LMS operations.