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Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) are making huge investments in infrastructure, equipment, technology, and professional development programmes of instructors in order to improve their educational effectiveness. However, the decisions regarding investments in technology implementation are generally made without understanding the factors that may affect the actual users of the technology. A lack of understanding of these factors often results in poor adoption of the technology due to users’ unwillingness to accept it; hence the new technology does not meet its anticipated benefits. Learning Management Systems such as Blackboard and Moodle are widely adopted for both on-campus and off-campus students in major universities around the world. The Learning Management System (LMS) has become an essential package for instructors and students in teaching and learning environment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the determining factors (i.e., effort expectancy, performance expectancy, facilitating conditions, social influence, hedonic motivation, and habit) of instructors’ behavioural intentions to use an LMS in Saudi HEIs, by applying a modified Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model – UTAUT2. Most technology adoption models have been developed and tested in Western countries. It would be naïve to assume that such technology adoption models could be equally applicable across all cultural settings, especially in developing countries. The UTAUT2 model does not address cultural factors and lacks cross-cultural study in non-Western countries. This study extends the UTAUT2 model by including Hofstede's (1980a) cultural dimensions, technology awareness, and racial groups as the moderators of the model. A sequential explanatory mixed method approach is employed to collect quantitative data via a Google survey questionnaire, followed by the qualitative data collection via three focus group discussions from multinational instructors of HEIs in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The quantitative data were analysed with structural equation modelling using SPSS/Amos software, whereas the qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis procedure. The findings revealed that facilitating conditions were the strongest predictor of behavioural intention to adopt an LMS, followed by performance expectancy and hedonic motivation. Effort expectancy and social influence have positive effects on behavioural intention. In addition, the relationship between behavioural intention and use behaviour was also significant. The moderating variables were assessed by running an overall model and then a path-by-path test. Technology awareness, racial groups, and cultural dimensions exerted a moderating impact on instructors’ behavioural intension to use an LMS in their teaching. This study attempted to address limitations of the original UTAUT2 model by incorporating new variables in the context of Saudi HEIs. Hence, the novel model provides a new methodology, fills gaps in the literature, and thus reflects an effort to expand the UTAUT2 model. The inclusion of new constructs makes this the first study of its kind in exploring instructors’ behavioural intention and usage of LMS in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, and is expected to be applicable to other educational institutions of the country. This study is limited to onetime data collection from male and full-time instructors at HEIs in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. For greater generalizability, future research could be extended to a longitudinal study including male and female populations in other institutions and regions. |
