The Impact of Usability, Social and Organisational Factors on Students’ Use of Learning Management Systems in Saudi Tertiary Education

Abstract

Advances in e-learning have reshaped universities worldwide. Universities place great emphasis on technology-enhanced learning development and are investing significantly in information technology infrastructure. However, in spite of this effort and investment, it seems that instructors and students do not fully benefit from learning technology, and more often Learning Management Systems (LMSs) remain underutilized. This is evident in Saudi higher education where LMSs have recently been introduced. Understanding the factors affecting the use of LMSs and prompting their engagement are therefore crucial to the success of such platforms. This study aims to fill this gap by examining usability, and organisational and social factors affecting the students’ intentions and use of LMSs in Saudi tertiary education. To this end, a theoretical framework was proposed that combined perceived usability attributes with the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) variables to identify the impact on students’ intention and use of the LMS. Furthermore, the study examined the moderating effect of demographic characteristics (gender, age, experience, and training) on the model’s proposed relationships. This study used a quantitative approach to validate the proposed model and test the research hypotheses. A cross-sectional survey method was adopted to collect the data. Using the probability multi-stage cluster-sampling technique, the empirical data were collected from five state universities in different regions of Saudi Arabia. The data were coded, cleaned, and preliminarily analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) package. In total, 605 responses were usable for testing the measurement and structural model, employing partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique and SmartPLS software. The results reveal the significant drivers of student use of LMS and the moderating effect of demographics on the proposed relationships. The results confirm that the study model is valid and reliable to indicate the key factors that influence the use of LMS. The dimension of social influence emerged to significantly influence the students’ usage behaviour. The Ahmed Alshehri Page ii performance expectancy was affected by information quality and the system interactivity whereas the effort expectancy was influenced by system navigation, system learnability and instructional assessment. The statistical analysis reveals that six associations were moderated by the four proposed personal characteristics. In the light of the findings of this study, recommendations were put forward to universities to gain insights into the best way to promote e-learning system popularity and acceptance among students.