FACTORS AFFECTING THE ADOPTION OF E-LEARNING DURING COVID-19: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

E-learning enables an environment in which educational activities are delivered through online platforms using computing devices to empower learning facilities anywhere and anytime without geographical boundaries. During the COVID-19 crisis where social distancing was mandatory, many e-learning platforms were adopted by institutions around the globe. Experiences show that for the adaptation of E-learning, several challenges were faced by educational institutions, among them some of the core challenges are Cost, System Quality, System Complexity, Infrastructure, Social influence, COVID-19 effect, and Student learning motivation. Therefore, this research aims to find the factors affecting the adoption of E-Learning during COVID-19 in Pakistan. To achieve this, a proposed hypothetical model has been formed based on well-known IT/IS acceptance models such as extended TAM, UTAUT, M&D, TRA, and IDT. Keeping problems in mind, an extensive literature search has been completed. In this study, constructs like Perceived Cost, System Quality, Complexity, Social Influence, Facilitating Condition, COVID-19 (Lockdown and COVID fear); Student learning motivation; Perceived Ease of User (PEOU), and Perceived Usefulness (PU) are the most significant variables to impact Behavior Intention (BI) to use e-learning in Pakistan, are measured. The hypothesized correlations were investigated using Smart-PLS software and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The correlational paths between constructs are studied using a quantitative methodology (survey questionnaire). A cluster sampling methodology was employed to gather a comprehensive dataset of 461 responses from students who utilized e-learning throughout the COVID-19 epidemic. The research findings indicate a significant statistical relationship in 13 out of the 15 hypotheses tested, while the other 2 did not yield statistically significant results. The research findings suggest that a significant portion, specifically 61.1%, of the change in Behavioral Intention may be reported by factors such as PU, PEOU, SI, SQ, CS, and COVID-19. Likewise, PEOU factors explained 39% of the variance, and Perceived Usefulness explained 54.7% in descending order of importance. Furthermore, the Cost and COVID-19 factors involved in adopting e-learning during COVID-19 negatively correlate with behavioral intention. Thus, Cost and COVID-19 were considered obstacles to adopting e-learning in the COVID-19 pandemic. This study contributes to identifying the significant factors influencing the behavioral intentions of Pakistani students for e-learning adoption during the COVID-19 pandemic, it also proposes an integrated research model to investigate the adoption of e-learning. Moreover, it offers practical and theoretical implications of its findings for stakeholders, including policymakers, educators, researchers, and industry practitioners involved in developing and implementing e-learning initiatives in Pakistan.