Psychological Dimensions Influencing Hospitality Instructors’ adoption of web Based Learning Systems : A Comparative Study Between Devoloping And Devoped Countries

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management - Helwan University

Abstract

Despite the emerging trend of using web-based learning systems (WBLSs) to facilitate teaching and learning activities, hospitality instructors do not always accept such systems as expected. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to propose a conceptual model investigating the impacts of three psychological dimensions (i.e. subjective norms, computing self-efficacy, and computing anxiety) on hospitality instructors’ adoption of WBLSs in three countries: Egypt as an example of a developing country and the UK and the USA as examples of developed countries. The sample chosen for this study included hospitality instructors who experienced using WBLSs in teaching such as Blackboard, Moodle. A convenience sample method was implemented. In order to attract more participants, both paper-based and online-based surveys were used. Accordingly, a total of 300 surveys were sent and distributed. Among, 208 usable responses were obtained, representing a response rate of 69.3 percent. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to measure the reliability and validity of the survey constructs. Then, structural equation modeling was employed to explore the relationship among the survey constructs. The results show significant influences of students, colleagues, chair departments, mass media, computing self-efficacy, and computing anxiety on the Egyptian instructors’ adoption of WBLSs. However, only four dimensions (i.e. students, colleagues, self-efficacy, and anxiety) had significant influences on the non-Egyptian instructors’ adoption of WBLSs. In addition, age was a significant factor influencing instructors’ adoption of WBLSs. The findings of the current study offer practical implications for scholars and practitioners.

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