E-learning technology and higher education: the impact of organizational trust

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of trust perceptions on teachers’ intention to continue using e-learning technology in higher education. Drawing on the model of organizational trust and the information systems continuance model, a new research model is developed and tested using data from a university college based on a survey of 401 university teachers. We find that teachers’ perceptions of system-based trust and trust in management exerted strong direct effects on intention to continue using an e-learning system. Additionally, system-based trust affects perceived usefulness, and thus fully mediates the influence of perceived usefulness on teachers’ intentions to use e-learning technology. Our findings clarify the relationship between trust and teachers continued use of e-learning technology and have implications, theoretical as well as practical, for trust-building structures that could improve the implementation of e-learning technologies in higher educational settings.