Title: A SEM investigation of e-learning: an illustrated perspective of a course website acceptance model among business students

Authors: Joshua Ignatius, T. Ramayah

Addresses: Business Research Consultant, Intelligent Insights International, 11900 Penang, Malaysia. ' Department of Operations Management, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11700 Penang, Malaysia

Abstract: The move towards a virtual learning domain provided the contention to pursue the subject from the standpoint of the user|s disposition towards the technology. Specifically, business students from a public institution of higher learning were the subjects in the assessment of the ease of use and usefulness of course website as a supplementary tool for face-to-face learning. A meticulous multi-stage–multi-criteria model development approach was employed prior to accepting a best-fit model. Perceived usefulness rather than ease of use of the course website was more important in explaining the actual usage among business students. The results exemplify that the scenario where content rather than pro forma is appreciated in the development of course website. This research also compared two estimation methods, i.e. Generalised Least Squares Estimation (GLE) and Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) in terms of the various fit statistics.

Keywords: course websites; e-learning; model development; model validation; structural equation modelling; technology acceptance; electronic learning; online learning; business students; higher education; virtual learning; user perceptions.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIOME.2007.014023

International Journal of Information and Operations Management Education, 2007 Vol.2 No.1, pp.1 - 20

Published online: 11 Jun 2007 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article