A cross-cultural examination of the impact of social, organisational and individual factors on educational technology acceptance between British and Lebanese university students

This paper examines the social, organisational and individual factors that may affect students' acceptance of e-learning systems in higher education in a cross-cultural context. A questionnaire was developed based on an extended technology acceptance model (TAM). A total sample of 1173 university students from two private universities in Lebanon and one university in England participated in this study. After performing the satisfactory reliability and validity checks, the hypothesised model was estimated using structural equation modeling. The findings of this study revealed that perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), social norms (SNs), perceived quality of work life (QWL), computer self-efficacy (SE) and facilitating conditions (FC) are significant determinants of behavioural intentions (BIs) and usage of e-learning system for the Lebanese and British students. QWL, the newly added variable, was found the most important construct in explaining the causal process in the model for both samples. Differences were found between Lebanese and British students with regard to PEOU, SN, QWL, FC, SE and actual usage; however, no differences were detected in terms of PU and BI. Overall, the proposed model achieves acceptable fit and explains for 69% of the British sample and 57% of the Lebanese sample of its variance which is higher than that of the original TAM. Our findings suggest that individual, social and organisational factors are important to consider in explaining students' BI and usage of e-learning environments

Differences in intention to use educational RSS feeds between Lebanese and British students: A multi‑group analysis based on the technology acceptance model

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) offers a means for university students to receive timely updates from virtual learning environments. However, despite its utility, only 21% of home students surveyed at a university in Lebanon claim to have ever used the technology. To investigate whether national culture could be an influence on intention to use RSS, the survey was extended to British students in the UK. Using the Technology Adoption Model (TAM) as a research framework, 437 students responded to a questionnaire containing four constructs: behavioral intention to use; attitude towards benefit; perceived usefulness; and perceived ease of use. Principle components analysis and structural equation modelling were used to explore the psychometric qualities and utility of TAM in both contexts. The results show that adoption was significantly higher, but also modest, in the British context at 36%. Configural and metric invariance were fully supported, while scalar and factorial invariance were partially supported. Further analysis shows significant differences between perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use across the two contexts studied. Therefore, it is recommended that faculty demonstrate to students how educational RSS feeds can be used effectively to increase awareness and emphasize usefulness in both contexts

Examining the moderating effect of individual-level cultural values on users’ acceptance of E-learning in developing countries: a structural equation modeling of an extended technology acceptance model

In this study, we examine the effects of individual-level culture on the adoption and acceptance of e-learning tools by students in Lebanon using a theoretical framework based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). To overcome possible limitations of using TAM in developing countries, we extend TAM to include subjective norms (SN) and quality of work life constructs as additional constructs and a number of cultural variables as moderators. The four cultural dimensions of masculinity/femininity (MF), individualism/collectivism, power distance and uncertainty avoidance were measured at the individual level to enable them to be integrated into the extended TAM as moderators and a research model was developed based on previous literature. To test the hypothesised model, data were collected from 569 undergraduate and postgraduate students using e-learning tools in Lebanon via questionnaire. The collected data were analysed using the structural equation modelling technique in conjunction with multi-group analysis. As hypothesised, the results of the study revealed perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), SN and quality of work life to be significant determinants of students’ behavioural intention (BI) towards e-learning. The empirical results also demonstrated that the relationship between SN and BI was particularly sensitive to differences in individual-cultural values, with significant moderating effects observed for all four of the cultural dimensions studied. Some moderating effects of culture were also found for both PU and PEOU, however, contrary to expectations the effect of quality of work life was not found to be moderated by MF as some previous authors have predicted. The implications of these results to both theory and practice are explored in the paper

The effects of individual-level culture and demographic characteristics on e-learning acceptance in Lebanon and England: A structural equation modeling approach

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel UniversityDue to the rapid growth of Internet technology, universities and higher educational institutions around the world are investing heavily in web-based learning systems to support their traditional teaching and to improve their students’ learning experience and performance. However, the success of an e-learning system depends on the understanding of certain antecedent factors that influence the students’ acceptance and usage of such e-learning systems. Previous research indicates that technology acceptance models and theories may not be applicable to all cultures as most of them have been developed in the context of developed countries and particularly in the U.S. So far little research has investigated the important role that social, cultural, organizational and individual factors may play in the use and adoption of the e-learning systems in the context of developing countries and more specifically there is almost absence of this type of research in Lebanon. This study aims to fill this gap by developing and testing an amalgamated conceptual framework based on Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and other models from social psychology, such as Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and TAM2 that captures the salient factors influencing the user adoption and acceptance of web-based learning systems. This framework has been applied to the study of higher educational institutions in the context of developing as well as developed countries (e.g. Lebanon and UK). Additionally, the framework investigates the moderating effect of Hofstede’s four cultural dimensions at the individual level and a set of individual differences on the key determinants that affect the behavioural intention to use e-learning. A total of 1197 questionnaires were received from students who were using web-based learning systems at higher educational institutions in Lebanon and the UK with opposite scores on cultural dimensions. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was used to perform reliability and validity checks, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in conjunction with multi-group analysis method was used to test the hypothesized conceptual model. As hypothesized, the findings of this study revealed that perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), subjective norms (SN), perceived quality of work Life (QWL), self-efficacy (SE) and facilitating conditions (FC) to be significant determinants of behavioural intentions and usage of e-learning system for the Lebanese and British students. QWL; the newly added variable; was found the most important factor in explaining the causal process in the model for both samples. Our findings proved that there are differences between Lebanese and British students in terms of PEOU, SE, SN, QWL, FC and AU; however no differences were detected in terms of PU and BI. The results of the MGA show that cultural dimensions as well as demographic factors had a partially moderated effect on user acceptance of e-learning. Overall, the proposed model achieves acceptable fit and explains for 68% of the British sample and 57% of the Lebanese sample of its variance which is higher than that of the original TAM. Our findings suggest that individual, social, cultural and organisational factors are important to consider in explaining students’ behavioural intention and usage of e-learning environments. The findings of this research contribute to the literature by validating and supporting the applicability of our extended TAM in the Lebanese and British contexts and provide several prominent implications to both theory and practice on the individual, organizational and societal levels.Altajir Trus

Towards the acceptance of RSS to support learning: An empirical study to validate the technology acceptance model in Lebanon

Simpler is better. There are a lot of "needs" in e-Learning, and there's often a limit to the time, talent, and money that can be thrown at them individually. Contemporary pedagogy in technology and engineering disciplines, within the higher education context, champion instructional designs that emphasize peer instruction and rich formative feedback. However, it can be challenging to maintain student engagement outside the traditional classroom environment and ensure that students receive feedback in time to help them with ongoing assignments. The use of virtual learning platforms, such as Blackboard Learn, and web feed syndication, using technology such as Rich Site Summaries (RSS), can help overcome such challenges. However, during an initial pilot at an institution in Lebanon, only 21% of students reported making use of both these facilities. In this study, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used to guide the development of a scale to be used to investigate antecedents to the use of web feeds. The proposed scale was reviewed by 4 experts and piloted with 235 students. The collected data were analysed using structural equation modeling (SEM) technique based on AMOS methods. The results revealed adequate face, content, and construct validity. However, perceived ease of use was not a significant predictor of attitude towards use. Overall, the proposed model achieves acceptable fit and explains for 38% of its variance of which is lower than that of the original TAM. This suggests that aspects of the model may lack criterion validity in the Lebanese context. Consequently, it may be necessary to extend the scale by capturing additional moderators and predictors, such as cultural values and subjective norms. We concluded that the existence of RSS feeds in education improves significantly the content presented by the instructors to the e-learning user decreasing at the same time the size and access cost

SOCIAL, ORGANIZATIONAL, DEMOGRAPHY AND INDIVIDUALS’ TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE BEHAVIOUR: A CONCEPTUAL MODEL

The main aim of this paper is to propose a conceptual model of technology acceptance that explains how individual, social, organizational factors affect the users’ behavioural intention to use technology by academics for teaching and learning activities. More specifically, the proposed model extends the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to include nine constructs namely, peer influence, superior influence, resource facilitation, technology facilitations; self-efficacy, academic tasks, nonacademic tasks, government support, and finally, institute support. In addition, seven demographic and situational moderators (age, education level, organisation type, academic position, voluntariness and usage experience) are hypothesized to have a moderating effect on individuals’ acceptance behaviour. This model provides valuable insights into the factors that influence the acceptance or resistance of Internet and technology by intended users and offers opportunities for future research in understanding the acceptance of technology

Cultural differences of lifelong learners in using emerging technologies

To examine emerging technologies and discuss their potential to improve teaching and learning with respect to cultural factors. Understanding the cultural differences and how they affect teaching and learning will inform higher education to offer a friendly environment that benefit adult learners

An empirical examination of the moderating role of age and gender in consumer mobile banking use: a cross-national, quantitative study

Purpose Despite the benefits of mobile banking services in an increasingly digitised world, adoption rates remain unsatisfactory. The present cross-national study examines age- and gender-dependent variations of consumer intentions and use of mobile banking services. Design/methodology/approach The study analyses consumer mobile banking use by integrating factors such as with trust, security and privacy and it examines the effects of these factors among two demographic factors including age and gender. 897 Lebanese and British mobile banking users completed a survey. Data was analysed by partial least squares-structural equations modelling. Findings Consumer behavioural intention was significantly moderated by age through its relationship with facilitating conditions and trust among Lebanese respondents, and performance expectancy, effort expectancy, hedonic motivation, price value and habit among their British counterparts. As for gender, a significant moderating effect was evidenced in the Lebanese, but not the British sample, on the level of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, price value and perceived security. Originality/value The findings provide evidence of the applicability of the new factors proposed in this research. The reflection of the influence of these demographic factors in a cross-national context provides insights into mobile banking adoption variation between different countries