Abstract:

The rapid evolution of e-learning around the world is inspiring many educational and business institutions to adopt it. E-learning is motivated by compelling advantages such as geographical reach, flexibility and cost effectiveness in course delivery and administration. In fact, educational institutions place a great emphasis on technology-enhanced learning development and invest significantly in information technology infrastructure. However, irrespective of this effort and investment, it seems that instructors and students do not always benefit from the learning technology and more often Learning Management Systems (LMSs) remain underutilized. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) is a theory that was developed to study how people accept the use of technology. The current research model proposes an extension to the UTAUT that sets to identify the key factors affecting the adoption and assimilation of e-learning systems in developing countries. A quantitative methodology approach was adopted in this research. This study limited to higher education’s students and used a questionnaire-based measures for data collection. Empirical data were collected from undergraduate and postgraduate students across three public universities in southern province of Saudi Arabia. To test the hypothesized research model, the data were analysed using factor analysis and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) techniques. The work is focused on measuring students’ acceptance and behavioural intention to use an LMS in Saudi Arabia. The overall objective is to examine and evaluate the viability of the extended UTAUT model. It also aims to accumulate further evidence of the validity, reliability and the relation among the model variables for the assessment of users’ acceptance of the learning technology. The findings of the study may help to provide insights into the best way to promote e-learning acceptance among Saudi students. These in turn may provide recommendations for successful implementations.

Keywords:

e-learning usability evaluation, learning management system, higher education institutions, UTAUT, acceptance, intention to use, developing countries.