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Over the years, The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) has served many researchers in unravelling technology acceptance intentions. What has become a chasm in the literature has been the seeming exclusion of non-linear relationships of UTAUT exogeneous variables (Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence and Facilitating Conditions) in model formation and the overall determination of construct predictive relationships. Secondly, there is a dearth in technology acceptance research in distance-based higher education settings. In an attempt to bridge these gaps, this study adopted the UTAUT model and utilized the Partial Least Squares approach to evaluate a combined linear and non-linear relationships based UTAUT model. The survey design was employed in which a questionnaire was used to obtain data from a sample of 267 respondents (tutors) from a distance-based higher education milieu with a countrywide distribution. Results obtained indicated that non-linear relationships exist between exogeneous factors to better explain constructs' behaviour in the model. A new relationship between facilitating condition and social influence was also discovered. The study thus concluded that in technology acceptance research, there is the need to include non-linear relationships in the UTAUT model to augment the predictive effects and explanations of the constructs' relationships. It further recommended a comparative analysis between a proposed comprehensive UTAUT model with non-linear relationships and moderators to the original UTAUT model for further empirical analysis. This is to compare results in terms of coefficient of determination (R 2 ) and predictive relevance (Q 2 ).

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Learning Management System (LMS)-enabled blended learning has been adopted by higher educational institutions for promoting accessible and effective pedagogy and andragogical practices. The introduction of this mode of learning has altered the traditional faceto-face interaction. However, the lack of actual usage and online presence by instructors in an LMS-enabled blended learning environment seems to be a major setback for its success. Consequently, LMS-related anxiety has been cited as one of the behavioural challenges hindering its usage in Africa. Hence, this paper is focused on unravelling the antecedents of tutors' anxiety towards actual LMS usage based on a Technology Related Stimulus-Response Theoretical Framework (TR-SR-TF). In view of this, the study employed a survey design, adopting a questionnaire as data collection instrument from 267 distance education tutors across study centres within Ghana. The results from Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) technique revealed three underlying factors determining LMS anxiety, namely; colleague influence, outcome expectation and use support. However, the result of the Importance Performance Map Analysis (IPMA) showed that colleague influence was the most important indicator while outcome expectation was the highest performance indicator of tutors' LMS related anxiety. The study recommended that such factors like colleague influence, outcome expectation and use support should be consciously addressed in order to reduce (if not totally eliminate) anxiety towards LMS use for blended learning.

Distance education has evolved partly through technologies that defined them in the various generations of distance education delivery. However, in the twenty-first century, the use of Learning Management System (LMS) has changed the face of distance education delivery. Even the traditional face-to-face based distance education mode is now adopting the LMS as a mediating technology between instructors and students. However, in the usage of LMS-enabled blended learning, several factors have been cited in the literature as enablers towards actual usage of LMS technology. Factors such as facilitating conditions, voluntariness of use and actual use behaviour have been important in contemporary literature. Despite their importance, the chasm in the literature is the nuances existing in terms of relationships between these three factors. This study fills the gap by defining a model based on the three factors to provide an in depth empirical study on their relationships and how they influence LMS-enabled blended learning uptake of distance education by tutors. The study thus employs a cross country survey to collect data from 267 tutors and offer analysis by way of a Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) approach. The study revealed important relationships among facilitating conditions, voluntariness of use and use behaviour of LMS-enabled blended learning such that facilitating conditions predicted voluntariness of use and actual use behaviour; voluntariness of use determined actual LMS use behaviour for blended learning in distance education. The study finally provided recommendations based on the findings for policy and practice of LMS-enabled blended learning in distance education.

A decade has elapsed since the Learning Management System (LMS) technology permeated its way into higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), offering new paradigms of both blended and online mode e-learning delivery. Parallel to other continents, the introduction of LMS stimulated acceptance and adoption intentions among stakeholders in higher education. This necessitated research into faculty members' and students' LMS acceptance and adoption intentions. While some research has been conducted in this dimension, the evidential facts are scattered. There is a need to agglomerate these studies to project a better picture of study patterns and results, to be abreast of the current state of the literature and better direct future research. This study sought to bridge the gap by way of a systematic review of previous studies within a decade of LMS acceptance research in SSA, placing them in contextual paradigms of models, methodologies, milestones, subjects, countries, findings and challenges. Results from a systematic review of 31 studies, revealed key determinants of LMS acceptance/adoption to be Attitude and Perceived Usefulness; followed by Performance Expectancy and Perceived Ease of Use; then lastly Social Influence. Major challenges to LMS implementation identified were ICT infrastructure; LMS usage skills and training; LMS system quality, LMS use policy and management support. TAM1 was the dominant model employed and students were the main subject of studies. Moreover, quantitative approach was the preferred design with Regression as the main statistical tool used for data analysis. The study recommended among others that more UTAUT or TAM3 based studies employing mixed method design with instructors as subjects, using structural equation modelling analysis are needed in SSA LMS research. Leadership and top management of higher education institutions should focus more on ICT infrastructure, LMS usage skills/training, LMS quality related issues, support and ICT policy formulation.

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This study empirically investigates factors predicting students' behavioral intentions towards the continuous use of mobile learning. Two baseline models namely the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) with the addition of habit as an exogenous construct were used for this purpose. The data were collected from 171 engineering undergraduates and analyzed based on structural equation modeling. The results suggest (1) Behavioral intention was positively and significantly influenced by mobile learning self-efficacy, attitude, and perceived usefulness; (2) Attitude was positively and significantly influenced by subjective norm, perceived usefulness, and mobile learning self-efficacy;(3) Mobile learning self-efficacy was only influenced by perceived ease of use and (4) Habit of using WhatsApp did not influence perceived usefulness nor perceived ease of use but had a positive and significant relationship with mobile learning self-efficacy. Nonlinear relationships were also observed between (1) Behavioral intention with perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and subjective norm (2) Habit with perceived usefulness and mobile learning self-efficacy. The nonlinear findings indicate that the relationships between these constructs, which were previously reported as linear, are prone to saturation and warrants further investigation. Our findings also stipulate a practical reference for higher educational institutions targeting to practice mobile learning for engineering undergraduates.