Edinburgh Napier University

  The rapid growth of e-learning around the globe is inspiring various academic institutions to adopt it. Uptake is motivated by convincing benefits such as flexibility, accessibility and the management of course delivery and educational materials. In fact, academic institutions place a great emphasis on technology-enhanced learning development and are investing significantly in information technology infrastructure. However, in spite of this effort and investment, it seems that instructors and students do not always fully benefit from the learning technology and more often Learning Management Systems (LMSs) remain underutilized. There is a dearth of academic research on Saudi higher education to examine acceptance and use of LMSs. Thus, this study adopts the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to study how people accept and use Blackboard. The data were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) techniques to test the hypothesized research model. The empirical results revealed that Performance Expectancy (PE), Social Influence (SI) and Technical Support (TS) positively affect students’ Behavioural Intention (BI) to use Blackboard. However, Facilitating Conditions (FC) showed significant influence on actual use (AU) while Effort Expectancy (EE) exhibited no impact on students’ intention to use the LMS. The empirical results found that technical support is fundamental in determining the acceptance and use of Blackboard. The extended UTAUT fits well in a web-based learning system in the Saudi context. The findings of the study may help to provide insights into a better approach to promote e-learning acceptance.