The Analysis of the Factors Affecting the Acceptance of E-learning in Higher Education

Background As the main step to implement and develop electronic learning (e-learning), it is very important to understand how learners accept it. The current study aimed at examining the main factors of e-learning acceptance by the students of Garmsar branch of Payam Noor University, Garmsar, Iran. Methods The descriptive methodology was used in the current study. The statistical population included 184 postgraduate e-students in Garmsar Payam Noor University in the academic year of 2014 - 15, out of which 124 persons participated in the study. The data collection instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire developed by the relevant research tools; the judgmental method was applied to reach the validity and Cronbach’s alpha value was 0.73. Collected data were analyzed by SPSS version 22.0 to conduct a basic analysis of the means and standard deviations and regression. Results The findings of the current study indicated that behavioral intention was under the influence of 3 factors including perceived ease of use (β = 0.62, Sig = 0.000), perceived usefulness (β = 0.63, Sig = 0.017), and attitude (β = 0.85, Sig = 0.000). Conclusions According to the findings, by increasing the students’ awareness about e-learning systems, their tendency toward using such systems increases.