Factors of best practices of e-learning among undergraduate students

Abstract

A renewed focus should be on human aspects and change behaviour in the uptake of e-learning. Thus, the overriding purpose of the study was to provide a diagnostic insight into how different factors come into play in the context of best practices of e-learning. The research aimed to help build a robust approach to the phenomenon. A dominant quantitative and less dominant qualitative method using survey approach was adopted. A total of 2,718 undergraduate students of the School of Social Sciences at two campuses of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, UKZN, South Africa participated in the survey. The theoretical framework adopted to underpin the research was the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology Model (UTAUT). The findings identified the criticality of factors such as perceived ease of use, complexity, ease of use, attitude, subjective norm, social factors and image to best practices of e-learning. The significance of the study has the potential to impact on the policy, implementation and best practices of e-learning. Theoretically, the context of South Africa in contrast to early adopter countries was employed to advance the frontiers of global knowledge and improve an understanding of the UTAUT model to explain e-learning best practices.