Perceived Usability in Learning Management Systems’ Adoption: A Study of Higher Education Institutions in Ghana

Abstract

The digitalization of education has made learning management systems (LMSs) an indispensable tool for facilitating teaching and learning in higher education institutions (HEIs). Research studies on the factors that influence LMS usage in Sub-Saharan Africa is lacking specifically in considering both technology adoption and usability as theoretical lenses. This study investigates the factors that influence the use of LMSs in HEIs in Ghana. Specifically, what factors influence perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived usability (PUsab) and if PU and PUsab can be used together in modelling the usage of the LMS. This quantitative study used a validated questionnaire to conduct a survey with 300 respondents from three Ghanaian HEIs. The data was analyzed using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling regression technique. The findings confirm that human factors (self-efficacy and learning style), social influence and access to technical support influence PUsab and the same factors also influence perceived PU. Both PUsab and PU influences LMS use among students in Ghana. The constructs PU and PUsab were found to be highly related when evaluating the factors influencing LMS usage and could thus not be adequately distinguished to be modelled together. Therefore, the construct PUsab could not replace perceived ease of use (PEU), as previous studies have suggested. While the constructs of PUsab and PEU seem semantically similar, PUsab includes the effectiveness construct, which could explain the relatedness between PUsab and PU. This finding has important implications for understanding how the technology adoption literature intersects with the usability literature.