The Effects of Gender and Age on Students’ Use of a Learning Management System in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The success of an e-learning intervention relies, to a considerable extent, on the student’s acceptance of the system. Still, the challenge for educational institutions is to determine the factors that influence the user’s acceptance of a Learning Management System (LMS) particularly, the demographic variables of age and gender, which would allow for effective approaches to implementation. Therefore, this study aims to analyse the moderating effects of gender and age in the acceptance and use of an LMS. Furthermore, the study is located in a Saudi tertiary learning context where students have unique psychological and social characteristics and where LMS are being rolled out on a national level. To this end, the study utilised a UTAUT (Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology) model as a base model, with an additional six usability variables, to investigate empirically the variables that influence the students’ use of an LMS in Saudi higher education. By using a quantitative research approach and a sample size of 605 students, data were collected from students in five Saudi universities. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) in conjunction with multigroup analysis techniques were employed to assess the model. The findings revealed that both gender and age moderated a single association between the facilitating conditions and actual use where female and younger students exhibited higher perceptions of the association than did their counterparts. The research has several implications for decision-makers, administrators and designers of e-learning systems. In light of the study findings, the limitations and future research avenues were discussed.