Investigating university academics behavioural intention in the adoption of e-learning in a time of COVID-19

Abstract

Background:The coronavirus disease of 2019 has extensively impacted various sectors globally, including higher education. The indefinite closure of Universities has necessitated the need to introduce alternative teaching and learning methods and tools. E-learning, a disruptive innovation, has provided an opportunity to allow for continuity of teaching and learning in Universities during these closures. Objectives:The study adopts Teo's model as the analytical tool to investigate factors that influence University lecturers to adopt e-learning platforms in South Africa. Method:The study followed a quantitative research approach with stratified sampling as a data collection approach using a sample size of 132 respondents. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was adopted to deduce factors that influence the Behavioural Intention to Use (BIU) to adopt e-learning, as well as to test the Model fit of Teo's model in the South African context. Results:The study revealed that the lecturer's attitude towards the use (ATU) of e-learning is the most influential construct towards lecturers' BIU e-learning platforms. The empirical evidence also revealed that Teo's model is a reasonable fit to the data to understand the adoption of e-learning by lecturers in South African universities. Conclusion:The empirical evidence from this study supports the viewpoint that in order for lecturers to successfully adopt e-learning platforms, their attitude towards the use of these platforms seems to be a critical factor. In order to understand lecturer's adoption of e-learning platforms successfully, Teo's model is a reasonably good framework to use.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Industrial Organisational Psychologists in South Africa: Imagining new professional roles

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“…Note that this list is not intended to be comprehensive due to the increasing attention scholars are paying to the domain field. At this point, it is noteworthy that (1) the majority of the works implemented SEM in analyzing acceptance models, and (2) limited attention is allotted to the perspective of academics in e-learning acceptance modeling, except for a few works (e.g., [77]).…”

Adopting a New Marking and Reporting System (MaRS) at Faculty Level: A Survey of Lecturers’ Level of Readiness and Acceptance

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“…Moreover, the tools and software introduced should be user-friendly as it will lessen the stress in using the technology. Thus, even though educators accept that the use of technology in their life as an educator would make their work easier, they still need to be assisted in handling the tools (Jere, 2020). In other words, it can be said that educators are slowly accepting and learning to use technology in completing their tasks.…”