Emergency e-learning acceptance in second-cycle institutions in Ghana: a conditional mediation analysis

Abstract

This paper investigates the determinants that will influence students’ acceptance of the electronic learning (e-learning) system of education after the COVID-19 emergency. Specifically, the paper assesses the attitudes and intentions of students in second-cycle institutions to accept e-learning after the pandemic, using constructs derived from the health belief model and technology acceptance model. Also, we test if there is any significant difference in the attitudes and intentions of students in public and private institutions. Using data collected from 370 students in upper and lower levels of a second-cycle institutions in Ghana, we found that student attitude is significantly influenced by perceived usefulness and moderately affected by perceived severity, whereas, student’s intention is moderately affected by the perceived severity but substantially influenced by the student’s attitude towards usage. Also, the results revealed that students’ attitudes and intentions to use e-learning are moderately affected by the severity of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, there were no significant differences in the attitudes and intentions of the sampled students in public and private second-cycle institutions in Ghana, regarding their acceptance and usage of e-learning after the COVID-19 emergency. Given the study’s findings, the paper concludes that students’ attitudes and intention to use e-learning are the main determinants that will influence the students’ acceptance of the e-learning system of education in second-cycle institutions in Ghana after the COVID-19 emergency. The paper contributes to knowledge by providing evidence of students’ acceptance of the e-learning system of education after the COVID-19 emergency in the context of a developing country like Ghana.

Students’ Acceptance of Learning Management Systems at the Peak of Covid-19 Pandemic by Employing a Modified Technology Acceptance Model

“…The effect of perceived ease of use (PEU) on perceived usefulness (PU) was significant. This supports the findings of previous studies (5,9) . This implies that student's perception of the usefulness of IT in tertiary institutions in developing countries is affected by their perception of how easy it is to use IT.…”

“…Regarding students' behavioural intention (BI) to use IT in tertiary educational institutions in developing countries, the findings of the study suggest that perceived usefulness (PU) and attitude towards use (ATU) significantly affected BI. This aligns with the literature on the significant effect of PU on BI (6,8) and ATU on BI (5) .…”

Researching Teacher Work Motivation in Ghana through the lens of COVID-19

“…About the training, only one teacher and the head were trained in my school" -Francis Because teachers were unaccustomed to digital instruction, it was only necessary for them to receive some kind of technical support or training in using ICT tools for instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as reported by studies reviewed earlier, there were fewer professional development programs to ensure teachers were technically adept to instruct students online (Adarkwah, 2021a;Adarkwah & Agyemang, 2022;Agormedah et al, 2020;Amankwa & Asiedu, 2022). The perceived lack of motivational incentives or packages also decreased teacher morale.…”