Learning Management Systems and Student Performance Khawlah Ahmed, Mujo Mesonovich American University of Sharjah Abstract In today’s technology driven societies, academic institutions, especially at the tertiary level, are incorporating Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), utilizing learning management systems (LMS) and adopting blended learning approaches to improve student performance and enhance student learning. Currently a good deal of research is conducted to assess the effectiveness of such techniques and technologies on student learning and performance. A great deal of this research deals with LMS’s, e-learning platforms, such as Blackboard, but not much is being conducted on LMS’s provided by publishing companies, like McGraw Hill Education, whose course management systems are available for a range of courses and being used throughout the world. This paper examines the effectiveness of McGraw Hill Education’s Connect on improving student grades in a pre-calculus course at a university in a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) country. Using simple and multiple linear regression analysis to investigate whether there was a relationship between the Connect online assignments’ grades and the total course grade of students in the course, and two independent sample t-tests to compare the grades between two pre-calculus courses (one taught using the Connect component, and the other taught in the traditional format) results show that using Connect has positive impact on student grades. Keywords: learning management systems, online learning, technology, teaching, McGraw Hill Education Connect, EFL/ESL learners 1. Introduction Improving student performance, enhancing student learning, and getting students to be active in the learning process continue to be leading priorities in education. To help achieve such goals in today’s technology driven societies, academic institutions, especially at the tertiary level, are incorporating Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), and faculty are busy experimenting with such technology to enhance their traditional methods of teaching. Online learning management systems (LMS) have been shown to have the potential to help support such efforts. ICTs have been changing the organization of information and how that information is being delivered, creating innovative, transformative learning and resourceful classrooms [1] [2]. With diverse e-learning activities and “programs located at different points of the e-learning spectrum ranging from non or trivial online presence to fully online provision”, an “abundance of literature on the use, application, and benefits of learning through Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in almost all stages of education” [62] and a great deal of research is being produced. Courses which have web/internet-based activities are no longer a novelty in higher education [23]. It is predicted that by 2020 higher education will be adopting “teleconferencing and distance learning to leverage expert resources” where “learning activities will move to individualized, just-in-time learning approaches” and where “hybrid” classes will “combine online learning components with less- frequent on-campus, in–person class meetings” [4]. Dominating the academic scenes in higher education are the online learning management systems (LMS). Currently a good deal of research is being conducted to assess the effectiveness of using LMS’s on enhancing student learning and performance. A great deal of this research concentrates on using LMS’s such as Blackboard, Desire2Learn, and Moodle. However, publishing companies, such as Pearson and McGraw Hill Education, are also providing online learning/course management systems that are becoming part of the academic scene in higher education. Their various adaptive and course management systems are available for a range of courses and being used in blended learning contexts as complementary or supportive techniques to the conventional in-class, face-to face instruction methods. McGraw Hill Education’s leading course management system, Connect, is being used extensively in higher education institutions around the world, including the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in the Middle East (such as the institution in which this study is conducted). According to an article published on their website [41], Connect is currently being used by more than 5 million students and professors, with about 680 course titles and over 71 disciplines across the curriculum. Based on research conducted by various institutions in the US, in collaboration with McGraw Hill Education, they assert that Connect has been shown to have positive impact on all aspects of the International Journal of Sustainable Energy Development (IJSED), Volume 7, Issue 1, June 2019 Copyright © 2019, Infonomics Society 582