Cloud for e-Learning: Determinants of Its Adoption by University Students in a Developing Country

Abstract

Cloud computing is an innovative technology that can provide huge benefits to universities to improve their teaching and learning processes. While it has been widely adopted for e-Learning across universities in developed countries, its adoption in developing countries is very low and there is a lack of empirical studies that investigate the factors that influence its adoption by university students. In this paper, we identify and examine the factors that influence university students' intention to adopt cloud services in a developing country, Saudi Arabia. An empirical case study on a Software as a Service (SaaS) was conducted across two universities and a survey questionnaire modified from Technology Acceptance Model 3 (TAM3) was administered to 527 students. The results show that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are the main determinants of students' behavioural intention to adopt the provided cloud computing service. Detailed analysis of the determinants provides recommendations that can guide decision makers in universities to improve students' adoption by facilitating successful implementation of cloud services and by making students realise the relevance of cloud services to their e-Learning activities and outcomes. The study also offers cloud service providers recommendations on tailoring their services in order to build a successful e-Business model for universities in developing countries.