Factors influencing students’ acceptance of m-learning: An investigation in higher education

Authors

  • Ahmad Abu-Al-Aish Brunel University
  • Steve Love Brunel University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v14i5.1631

Abstract

M-learning will play an increasingly significant role in the development of teaching and learning methods for higher education. However, the successful implementation of m-learning in higher education will be based on users’ acceptance of this technology. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to study the factors that affect university students’ intentions to accept m-learning. Based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) (Venkatesh et al., 2003), this study proposes a model to identify the factors that influence the acceptance of m-learning in higher education and to investigate if prior experience of mobile devices affects the acceptance of m-learning. A structural equation model was used to analyse the data collected from 174 participants. The results indicate that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, influence of lecturers, quality of service, and personal innovativeness were all significant factors that affect behavioural intention to use m-learning. Prior experience of mobile devices was also found to moderate the effect of these constructs on behavioural intention. The results of this research extend the UTAUT in the context of m-learning acceptance by adding quality of service and personal innovativeness to the structure of UTAUT and provide practitioners and educators with useful guidelines for designing a successful m-learning system.

Author Biographies

Ahmad Abu-Al-Aish, Brunel University

Ahmad Abu-Al-Aish is a PhD student in the School of Information Systems, Computing and

Mathematical Science at Brunel University. His main research interest is in educational information systems, adoption of mobile learning system in higher education and the use of mobile technologies to support learning and teaching methods

Steve Love, Brunel University

Steve Love is a senior lecturer in the Department of Information System and Computing at Brunel University. His main interests are human computer interaction, the impact of mobile technologies and ubiquitous computing on social behavior, and usability of mobile phone in public. In addition, he also undertake research in online learning and distance learning.

Published

2013-12-10

How to Cite

Abu-Al-Aish, A., & Love, S. (2013). Factors influencing students’ acceptance of m-learning: An investigation in higher education. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 14(5). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v14i5.1631

Issue

Section

Research Articles