An empirical study on behavioural intention to reuse e-learning

The learner’s acceptance of e-learning systems has received extensive attention in prior studies, but how their experience of using e-learning systems impacts on their behavioural intention to reuse those systems has attracted limited research. As the applications of e-learning are still gaining momentum in developing countries, such as China, it is necessary to examine the relationships between e-learners’ experience and perceptions and their behavioural intention to reuse, because it is argued that system reuse is an important indicator of the system’s success. Therefore, a better understanding of the multiple factors affecting the e-learner’s intention to reuse could help e-learning system researchers and providers to develop more effective and acceptable e-learning systems. Underpinned by the information system success model, technology acceptance model and self-efficacy theory, a theoretical framework was developed to investigate the learner’s behavioural intention to reuse e-learning systems. A total of 280 e-learners were surveyed to validate the measurements and proposed research model. The results demonstrated that e-learning service quality, course quality, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and self-efficacy had direct effects on users’ behavioural intention to reuse. System functionality and system response have an indirect effect, but system interactivity had no significant effect. Furthermore, self-efficacy affected perceived ease of use that positively influenced perceived usefulness. Introduction The development of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has provided significant opportunities for education suppliers to explore and develop new ways of delivering educational programmes. As a result, e-learning has become an emerging phenomenon in revolutionising processes and environments in which teaching and learning can take place. Compared with classroom-based teaching and learning, e-learning has received considerable attention because of its flexibility, low cost and convenience. These characteristics make it a potentially attractive option for rural users. According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS), the rural population accounted for 54% of the total population in 2008. Because of the backwardness of rural economic development and inadequate financial resources, the improvement of rural education has been seriously restricted (NBS, 2008). The statistical data showed that 9.5% of rural labourers were illiterate; 86.2% are educated up to the junior high school level, which is the end British Journal of Educational Technology (2011) doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2011.01261.x © 2011 The Authors. British Journal of Educational Technology © 2011 BERA. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. of the 9-year compulsory education in China; and only 4.3% received an education at high school level or above (NBS, 2008). The low education level of the rural population seriously hinders the development of the rural economy. Therefore, continuous education plays an important role in improving the knowledge and skills of people living in rural areas. The rapid development of Internet technologies has provided opportunities for people to participate in adult continuous study through e-learning, because e-learning offers affordable, new educational opportunities that were not available before. With continuous public investment in Internet infrastructure in China, the Internet coverage has been extended to many rural areas, especially in more developed regions. The China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC, 2009) reported that rural Internet users had increased to Practitioner Notes What is already known about this topic • Internet has provided great opportunities for continuous education through e-learning in rural areas of China. • Many factors affect initial e-learning adoption. • Limited attentions have been paid to examine the relationships between e-learners’ experience and perceptions and their behavioural intention to reuse e-learning systems, which is an important indicator of the system’s success. What this paper adds • A first attempt to study how e-learners’ experience and perceptions affect their intention to reuse e-learning systems in the context of rural education in China. • Proposed and validated a hybrid model underpinned by information systems success model, technology acceptance model and self-efficacy theory. • An effective model to explain the relationships between contributing factors and their effect on behavioural intention of users to reuse an e-learning system. • Identified key factors and the extent of their impact on e-learning system reuse that will enable e-learning providers to be more focused with their effort and work more effectively on future improvement. Implications for practice and/or policy • It is essential for system designers to use appropriate system features and functions that can effectively facilitate the teaching and learning processes and outcomes. • As the course quality significantly affects the learner’s intention to reuse an e-learning system, pedagogical principles, including principles of developing and structuring the course content, should be employed in the development and evaluation of relevant curriculum. E-learning content developed for learners in rural areas of China must be practical and relevant to learners’ personal development goals and work requirements, so the learners can benefit from the learning outcomes and improve their work performance eventually. • A perfectly designed e-learning system will only work well with appropriate e-learning service. Human interaction as an important part of services must not be underestimated and eliminated. • As perceived ease of use has a strong impact on e-learning success, e-learning providers in China must consider the low education level of people living in rural areas and take effective measures to improve the ease of use. 2 British Journal of Educational Technology © 2011 The Authors. British Journal of Educational Technology © 2011 BERA. 84.6 million at a rate of 60% in 2008. E-learning has been considered as an efficient solution for expanding adult education and vocational training in rural areas (Ministry of Agriculture, 2005). Although the applications of e-learning have been enhanced by the government promotion programs and the rapid penetration of the Internet into the rural regions, only 1.6% of a 700-million strong rural population registered in e-learning programs in 2009, despite the fact that many higher education institutions offer e-learning curriculum and training course in rural areas (CNNIC, 2010). According to a survey of 150 e-learning courses by Guo and Yuan (2009), there was a lack of andragogy in developing e-learning materials. Lang (2006) and Guo (2006) indicated that system service and system design were factors that could impact system usage and student motivation. This limited research on e-learning implementation in China has shed light on some of the potential problems and challenges. To overcome these challenges and promote wider applications of e-learning systems, it is imperative to understand the factors affecting e-learning success. Although e-learning research has attracted much attention over the last decade, it can be characterised by a diversity of studies in a wide range of contexts using a variety of variables and models (McGill & Klobas, 2009). As e-learning system success is a multifaceted outcome and can be highly contextual, it is difficult to decide what findings and outcomes reported in the literature are applicable in helping to understand the e-learning system success in our context of rural areas of China. It is argued in this paper that the behavioural “intention to reuse” can be an appropriate indicator for understanding the success of the e-learning system. Therefore, this study aims to examine how e-learners’ experience and perceptions in using existing e-learning systems in the rural areas of China affect their behavioural intention to reuse by developing and empirically validating an integrated theoretical framework based on the technology acceptance model (TAM), information system (IS) success model and self-efficacy theory. Theoretical background and research model e-learning system research has been well reported in the literature. McGill and Klobas (2009) provide a comprehensive analysis on e-learning success research and acknowledge that one of the major foci has been the adoption and continuance of use. Many factors may contribute to e-learning system adoption, use and behavioural intention to reuse, so a number of theories have been used or adapted to examine the main factors affecting e-learning system success. TAM is one of the most popular models used. In addition to TAM, the IS success model and self-efficacy theory have also been used or adapted in research on information technology (IT) acceptance, usage and success; each of these approaches has its own strengths and limitations as discussed in the following section. Limited attempts have been reported in developing and validating modified or extended theoretical models in the context of e-learning in China, but the explanatory power of the models tested are low (eg, Duan, Feng & Fu, 2010; van Raaij & Schepers, 2008). It is argued that intention to reuse e-learning systems, which is regarded as an effective measure for system success, can be affected by multiple key factors pertinent to the technology, users and application context. Therefore, a comprehensive framework can be developed to provide a holistic view of factors affecting the intention to reuse. Based on TAM, IS success model and self-efficacy theory, an integrated hybrid research model was proposed and its related constructs were established. This research model was used to inform the development of research hypotheses and the survey design. The following sections explain the relevant theories incorporated in the proposed hybrid model.