Through the rapid expansion of information technologies, Learning Management Systems have become one of the most important innovations for delivery of education. Successful implementation and management of these systems are primarily based on the instructors' / adoption. However, too few researches have been conducted to evaluate instructors&rsquo / adoption towards e-learning system as taking
higher education as base. This study aims to understand behavioral intentions of higher education instructors towards Learning Management Systems and further to identify the influencing factors. A research model has been proposed based on the belief variables of the Technology Acceptance Model. Additionally, Application Characteristics, Individual, Social and Technological dimensions were considered to identify the effects of key variables on behavioral intention of users. A survey instrument has been developed and conducted with 224 academicians after a pilot study through its reliability and validity has been assured. Although the items of the survey instrument were based on the literature, an explanatory factor analysis was performed to strictly determine which items belong to which factors. Then, in order to assess the measurement model Convergent validity and Discriminant validity were conducted via confirmatory factor analyses. After the required prior analyses, Component based Structural Equation Modeling (Partial Least Square - PLS) was used to validate the predictive power of the proposed research model. Consequently, relationships between the influencing factors were detected and the results showed that the factors related with Belief dimension directly influenced behavioral intention of instructors. Also, the factors under the Individual, Social and Technological dimensions indirectly affected behavioral intention of users towards learning management system use. Additionally, structured and informal interviews were performed with ten instructors and the findings of the research model were explained with the opinions of system users. The indications of this research will be valuable for implementation, management and continuous improvement of learning management systems.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:METU/oai:etd.lib.metu.edu.tr:http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/3/12612126/index.pdf |
| Date | 01 July 2010 |
| Creators | Findik, Duygu |
| Contributors | Ozkan, Sevgi |
| Publisher | METU |
| Source Sets | Middle East Technical Univ. |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | M.S. Thesis |
| Format | text/pdf |
| Rights | To liberate the content for public access |
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