Investigating critical success factors in online learning environments in higher education systems in the Caribbean^*

* Kirstin Krauss is the accepting Associate Editor for this paper.

ABSTRACT

Online learning has grown as a key method in education management over the last couple of decades. Studies have shown that significant investments in this technology are being made by universities, yet the full benefits expected have not been realized due to issues and challenges experienced by stakeholders such as learners and instructors in adopting and effectively using e-learning. This is especially true in developing economies where they may be attempting online delivery modes for the first time. In this study, we explore the question “What are the factors that influence university students’ adoption and use of an e-learning system in the context of the English-speaking Caribbean?” using an extended technology acceptance model framework. Partial least squares analysis was used to test the derived research model and found that critical success factors influencing students’ perception and use in online learning settings, particularly those within a developing economy conditions, include supportive cultural practices, access to computers, system or online environment availability, computer and online learning self-efficacy, user perception of usefulness and ease of use. These results have significant implications for university executives and policy-makers as they consider adopting online learning delivery modalities for users.

KEYWORDS:

• Education
• ICT4D
• technology adoption
• online learning
• e-learning
• developing economies

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Corlane Barclay is a consultant, attorney-at-law and former lecturer. She has extensive experience as a practitioner and is a certified project management professional (PMP) for over 12 years. She holds a Ph.D. in Information Systems from the University of the West Indies, Mona; a M.S. in Management Information Systems, B.S. in Accounts and Management and LL.B. from the same university and later obtained a Legal Education Certificate from the Norman Manley Law School, Kingston, Jamaica. Her research interests include cybercrime, cybersecurity, knowledge discovery in data mining, project management, online learning, knowledge management, and ICT for development. She is the editor of two books in areas of the project management and knowledge discovery in data mining and her research has been published in the Project Management Journal, Information Systems Frontiers, International Journal of Production Economics, and Information Technology for Development.

Charlette Donalds is a full time lecturer at the University of the West Indies, Mona, where she also served as the co-academic director of the Computer Based Management Information Systems program during 2014–2015. She has also worked as an IS practitioner in industry. She holds a doctorate degree and a M.S degree in information systems from the University of the West Indies, Mona and a bachelor's degree in computer and management studies from the University of Technology, Jamaica. Her research interests include cybercrime, cybersecurity, ontology, enterprise systems, knowledge management, information and communication technologies for development and data mining.

Kweku-Muata Osei-Bryson is Professor of Information Systems at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. He is also currently a Visiting Professor of Computing at the University of the West Indies at Mona, and has also been Visiting Professor of Information Systems at the Ghana Institute of Management & Public Administration. Previously he was Professor of Information Systems & Decision Sciences at Howard University in Washington, DC. He has also worked as an Information Systems practitioner in industry and government in the USA and Jamaica. He holds a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics (Management Science & Information Systems) from the University of Maryland at College Park; a M.S. in Systems Engineering from Howard University; and a B.Sc. in Natural Sciences from the University of the West Indies at Mona. His research areas include: Data Mining, Decision Support Systems, Disaster Recovery Planning, Knowledge Management, IS Security, e-Commerce, ICT for Development, Database Management, IS Outsourcing, and Multi-Criteria Decision Making. His research published in various leading research journals, and he is author or editor of 5 books. Currently he serves as Associate Editor of the INFORMS Journal on Computing & the Journal of Information Technology for Development, as a member of the Editorial Board of the Computers & Operations Research Journal, and as a member of the International Advisory Board of the Journal of the Operational Research Society.

ORCID

Corlane Barclay http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1122-8583

Notes

* Kirstin Krauss is the accepting Associate Editor for this paper.