Factors that influence the adoption of e-learning: an empirical study in Kuwait

Abstract

E-learning has emerged as a necessity to meet the challenges posed by the development of information technology and its potential for greater access to knowledge. The general hypothesis of this research is that; e-learning as an organizational activity started in the developed countries, and as such, the implementation models developed there are taken as a benchmark. The implementation barriers and the influential factors for adopting e-learning in different regions and societies may or may not be the same as those found in the developed countries (with varying degrees of intensity or importance). Hence, those available implementation models may not necessary be followed in all stages and steps when used by different countries and societies. Accordingly, the implementation barriers and the influential factor may differ from one case to another. Since e-learning is respectively new in Kuwait and no comprehensive studies about the adoption of e-learning or the important factors that would influence the adoption of e-learning in Kuwait (ref), the aim of this research is to investigate and find the main and important factors that would influence the acceptance and adoption of elearning in Kuwait as an example of a developing country. In order to realize the aim of this research, the e-learning literature was reviewed, and an exploratory study was conducted in Kuwait. The exploratory study explored the state of e-learning in Kuwait and investigated the influential issues to e-learning adoption. Then, a conceptual model was proposed based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model, and amended it with the outcomes of the exploratory study to suit the context of the study. The proposed conceptual model was developed to study e-learning adoption in Kuwait and to offer a further explanation of the adoption of e-learning in the Kuwaiti context. Triangulation in data collection was used to examine and validate the conceptual model, where quantitative and qualitative methods were used. A questionnaire-based survey was firstly conducted, followed by an interview-based field study. This thesis concludes by highlighting the main findings of the research, and presenting the main contributions of this research.