There are many motivation theories which can be used to develop and stimulate the interest of the participants of online education. Instead of describing individual theories, we will shortly list some general principles derived from motivational theories , and which are applicable in LMS.

It is generally considered that people select their goals and direct their activities according to their needs . That is why knowing certain basic types of needs can help in design of such educational systems which will be more successful at attracting and maintaining the interest of the participants.

Possible types of needs

Need for respect is related to an individual’s wish to be positively rated by others, to be treated with respect and in an appropriate manner, and sometimes even to the need to realize personal goals or achieve a status which enable a person to be distinguished and have higher level of (self)respect , or to avoid the feeling of low self esteem and the belittling of the others.

Need for belonging and socializing is present in individuals who like to develop friendly relationships, avoid solitude and try to socialize, and do different joint activities in pairs or groups in order to attain the joint goals.

Need for accomplishment is related to people who try to realize more demanding business or personal goals , to avoid personal failure, realize projects and with special result or accomplishment be distinguished among others.

Need for self-actualization is present in people who in an artistic, cultural, humanitarian, technical, scientific or other area (such as a hobby or recreation) develop interests central to their personality and the feeling of fulfilment, thus trying to engage in this type of activities as much as possible, or trying to achieve special goals through them.

Need for security is present in people who like stability and avoid risk , as well as in those that try to achieve and maintain conditions in which their basic existential and other important needs are fulfilled, and in people who try to avoid failure, personal reputation loss, status or (self)respect.

Need to manage the situation and activity outcomes is related to people who like to have influence over what is happening to them (control their “destiny”), i.e. "to take matters into their own hands" in, for them, uncertain situations or when something is important to them, compared to people who let matters take their course and surrender to other people’s decisions, and consider that they are not in a position to influence what will happen to them.

Need for power is related to the wish to manage or manipulate others and have influence and possibility of leadership in a certain group or organization , where personal power can be directed at influencing the way others behave and think, as well as to achieve the desired outcomes in social or business situations and activities.

Need for information and diversity is related to personal curiosity, wish to explore and gain new experiences , as well as enthusiasm towards original experiences which an individual acquires in one or more areas, where such a person will often feel a certain “hunger” for novelty and change in relation to the usual information which they receive from their environment.

Need for aesthetic experiences is present in individuals who like to be in harmonious environments, use nicely designed objects and expose themselves to appropriate aesthetic external stimuli (music, interior design, user interface design, harmonious behaviour of people in their environment etc.), as well as to create products and services of appropriate aesthetic characteristics, where preferences towards certain aesthetic styles are usually present.

Need for personal development is present in most people and relates to the desire to acquire knowledge and skills in areas which are particularly important to a person, and such individuals are equally stimulated to act by the process of personal growth as by the competencies they will acquire.

Need for entertainment and recreation is present in people who try to divert themselves, play games, solve riddles, participate in adventures and do different other recreational activities in order to spend the time they have at their disposal in a more pleasant way, to improve their mood and test some of their abilities or to fulfil personal potentials.

Motivational process

Intensity of motivation to perform a certain activity is influenced by estimated importance of a goal, expected effort that needs to be invested into the realization of the goal, as well as the probability that the goal will be fulfilled if the required effort was previously invested. In other words, the more important they feel the goals is, the more effort the individuals will invest, as well as if the attainment of the goals does not require too much effort or if there is no greater probability that for some occasional and uncontrolled reasons the invested effort will be in vain.

The sources of motivation can be intrinsic (personal affinity, satisfaction for doing a certain activity etc.), as well as extrinsic (rewards or punishments, obligations or rules). Motivation is usually greater if both intrinsic and extrinsic stimuli are present, where intrinsic motivational stimuli are sometimes long-term and do not decrease after getting a reward is (for some time) no longer possible.

In order to motivate an individual it is particularly important that they see the reward as just or proportional to the effort they invested . What is particularly demotivating if the effect of the rewards which have not been correctly awarded i.e. a situation in which an individual notices that another personal received objectively or according to their subjective perspective, a significantly bigger reward, for the same or similar effort.

As a means of motivation, rewarding can be regular, as well as irregular, and in regular or irregular intervals . Regular rewarding leads to consolidation of a certain goal activity for as long as the individual considers the reward worthy. After the rewarding is finished or if the reward value decreases, the frequency and effort in performing the goal activity and the level of motivation will also gradually decrease. Sometimes it is more cost-effective to conduct the rewarding in regular time intervals or only after a certain activity has been done several times. According to research, the greatest level of motivation is achieved by randomly or sporadically distributed rewards where the level of motivation and effect is for the most time relatively high i.e. with such rewards the effort does not significantly increase or decrease immediately before or after getting a reward, as the arrangement of rewards cannot be anticipated.

Motives can be similar or opposite . Several motives can simultaneously encourage a certain activity which usually leads to strong engagement and high efficiency. On the other hand, motives can also be simultaneous, but opposite leading to the so-called ambivalence . Such are, for example, situations in which a certain activity is under constant influence of positive motives (e.g. acquisition of new knowledge) as well as negative motives (e.g. unacceptable spending of time). Another possible situation is when two mutually exclusive motives i.e. two equally attractive activities are present, where in a given situation only one can be chosen and done.

Motivation can also be influenced by different factors in the environment, as well as the activities related to participation in the process of education. For example, pleasant, functional, ergonomic and aesthetic real or virtual learning environment will have a positive influence on the motivation of the participants, while opposite characteristics of the learning environment will probably be demotivating. Furthermore, changes in the methods of work and design which are pedagogically and ergonomically compatible will lessen the feeling of monotony and constantly stimulate new interest and curiosity in the participants. Finally, the participants will perceive the possibility to influence the way the educational process is conducted and to co-decide about important elements of their work on acquiring new knowledge and skills (within the frame of the set general goals, of course) as very positive and will be especially encouraged once they realize that the system adapts to their needs and preferences, and that they have been given special importance, that they are trusted, given responsibilities and authorities (in short, when they experience personal empowerment).

Positive and negative motives to use the Internet/web

Numerous researches dealt with motives for Internet use , which are also important for the use of LMS. The most common motives for Internet use are:

- gathering of information and problem solving,
- fun and entertainment,
- use of free time,
- convenience of the Internet as an available communication medium,
- contacting other people and maintaining personal relationships.

Greater desire to use the Internet is present in people with appropriate computer literacy and those that have easy access to the Internet with acceptable expenses. On the other hand, negative motivation to use the Internet is caused by different factors:
- insufficient knowledge of the information technology,
- frustration because of technical problems when the Internet is used,
- too high information technologies and Internet connection expenses,
- poor computer-mediated communication skills,
- fear of the unfavourable outcomes of personal communication through the Internet.

Motivation of the online course participants is influenced by the way of communication with the instructor, as well as by many other factors such as numerous needs and motives an individual can satisfy by using such communication and an appropriately designed system for participant motivation . Apart from that, general motives for Internet use will , if they are present, increase the probability that they will accept a learning management system (LMS).

Tips & tricks: When selecting the content and designing an LMS, try to fulfil as many of different types of participants’ motives as possible. Adequate management of participant motivation through the use of promotion is also important, as it increases the perception of the importance of educational objectives, and by setting the demands within a reasonable frame, as well as by developing positive expectations related to the possibility to master the planned activities in an online course. Another helpful recourse is to encourage intrinsic motivation and the selection of appropriate and just rewards. Finally, apart from encouraging the positive motives, it is also necessary to reduce the possible influence of the negative motives on the participants, and to ensure them with the necessary level of computer literacy and competencies in computer-mediated communication.