This study applies the decomposed theory of planned behaviour to explore university faculty members' e-learning adoption in Brazil. Attitude (perceived usefulness, ease of use, compatibility, and relative advantage), subjective norms (external influence and student-instructor interaction), and behavioural control (level of interactivity and resource facilitating conditions) collectively influence intention to use e-learning, which in turn determines actual behaviour. The effect of occupational socialisation was posited as a moderator to examine the differences between full-time (professors) and part-time (tutors) faculty members. A quantitative survey was conducted and 446 usable responses were received in total. The research model fitted the data well and supported most of the hypotheses. In addition, the occupational categories (professors versus tutors) had an impact on some of the paths, while latent means were greater among professors, compared with tutors. In conclusion, significant implications are discussed while important limitations are recognised and future research directions are suggested.
IntroductionThe purpose of this study is to examine factors determining e-learning adoption in Brazilian universities. E-learning is the use of Internet technologies to deliver a broad array of solutions that enhance knowledge and performance (Rosenberg 2001). While e-learning is still in the process of maturing, it has steadily grown over the past few years. The worldwide market for e-learning products and services reached US$32.1 billion in 2010. The 5-year compound annual growth rate is 9.2%, and revenues will grow to US$49.9 billion by 2015 (Ambient Insight 2011).This study proposes a research model that explains factors determining e-learning adoption. More specifically, we adapt Taylor and Todd's (1995) decomposed theory of planned behaviour (DTPB) as a theoretical base and extend it to a model that explains Brazilian university faculties' e-learning adoption. In addition, we posit that the strength of the causal relationships among these factors may vary according to the extent of occupational socialisation. More specifically, our study focuses on the perceptual and behavioural differences between professors and tutors, both of whom play major roles in e-learning in higher education in Brazil.This study closely follows a stream of new technology adoption in e-learning systems (Teo 2011(Teo , 2012. Our incremental value to the disciplinary knowledge base is threefold. First, e-learning adoption in Brazilian higher education has seldom been documented in scholarly English-language journals. Brazil is considered to be one of the rising economic powers known as BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). Nonetheless, educational research on Brazilian higher education has still been scarce. Our review of Studies in Higher Education found no articles dealing with e-learning adoption in Brazilian universities, while other journals have published on this topic in primary and secondary schools (Martins, Steil, and Todes...