Investigating the influence of the most commonly used external variables of TAM on students' Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) and Perceived Usefulness (PU) of e portfolios
Engagement with e portfolios has been shown to improve students' learning. However, what influences students to accept e portfolios is a question that needs careful study. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of Self Efficacy, Subjective Norm, Enjoyment, Computer Anxiety and Experience on students' Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) and Perceived Usefulness (PU) of an e portfolio system and their Behavioural Intention (BI) to use the system for learning. To do this, the study tested and used the General Extended Technology Acceptance Model for E Learning (GETAMEL) in the context of e portfolios. Valid data were collected from 242 UK undergraduate students who had been introduced to e portfolios. The data set was analysed using SPSS software. Results showed that the best predictor of student's Perceived Ease of Use of the e portfolio is Experience, followed by Enjoyment, Self Efficacy and Subjective Norm. The best predictor of student's Perceived Usefulness of the e portfolio is Perceived Ease of Use followed by Enjoyment. Both Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness predict student's Behavioural Intention to Use the e portfolio. The findings improve understanding regarding acceptance of e portfolio systems and this work is therefore of particular interest to researchers, developers and practitioners of e portfolios. We validated and used the GETAMEL to examine students' e portfolio adoption.Four variables affected Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) of the e portfolio.The four variables are Experience, Enjoyment, Self Efficacy and Subjective Norm.PEOU and Enjoyment affected Perceived Usefulness (PU) of the e portfolio.Both PEOU and PU affected students' intention to use the e portfolio.
Comput. Hum. Behav.