Modeling the determinants of pre‐service teachers' perceived usefulness of e‐learning

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the determinants of pre‐service teachers' perceived usefulness of e‐learning for teaching and learning. Design/methodology/approach A total of 189 pre‐service teachers completed a survey questionnaire measuring their responses to four constructs which explain perceived usefulness in the context of e‐learning: learning environment (LE), course delivery (CD), tutor attribute (TA), and facilitating conditions (FC). These were administered during the teaching term where participants were attending a technology course. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed for modeling and data analysis. Findings Results revealed that 62.5 percent of the total variance in the pre‐service teachers' perceived usefulness of e‐learning was explained by the four variables. Among them, learning environment did not have a significant influence on perceived usefulness. Overall, the data in this study provided evidence to support the notion that perceived usefulness is a multidimensional construct. Originality/value Perceived usefulness is often employed as an independent variable within a model (technology acceptance model) or theory (theory of planned behavior) in many acceptance studies. This study provides an alternative perspective and new insights of perceived usefulness by positioning it as a dependent variable. Methodologically, this study employed structural equation modeling as the technique to assess the effect of each of the four variables on perceived usefulness, something that conventional techniques (e.g. t ‐test, ANOVA) cannot do because the latter are not capable of analyzing latent and observed indicators simultaneously.