THE ROLE OF VOLUNTARINESS IN DISTANCE EDUCATION STUDENTS’ USAGE OF A COURSE WEBSITE

ABSTRACT

This study looks at the usage of a course website among distance learning business management students in a public institution of higher learning in Malaysia. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used as the basis of the research framework but voluntariness was added as a possible moderating factor. TAM postulates that perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEU) are key determinants that inevitably lead to the actual usage of a particular technology or system. A total of 67 students responded to the survey out of the 155 students registered as this was a voluntary exercise. The findings show that these two variables were able to explain 64.1% of the variance in usage of the course website. Perceived voluntariness was also found to moderate this relationship. Some implications are discussed as a conclusion.