Identifying key factors affecting college students’ adoption of the e-learning system in mandatory blended learning environments

The successful application of the e-learning system is of great significance to the implementation, management and continuous improvement of blended learning in higher education. Hence, we focused on identifying key factors affecting college students’ adoption of the e-learning system in mandatory blended learning environments. In this study, the Unified Technology Acceptance and System Success (UTASS) model was proposed, a method integrating self-reported and system log data was implemented, while the moderator variables of gender and major were considered. Self-reported questionnaires were distributed in the e-learning system-starC and a total of 287 valid questionnaires were collected, meanwhile system log was collected to record students’ actual behavior online. Structural equation modeling analysis revealed that system quality (SQ), social influence (SI) and facilitating conditions (FC) have significant positive effects on behavioral intention (BI) whereas information quality (IQ) has none on BI. There is no significant positive relationship among FC, BI and use behavior (UB), and only moderator effect of gender exists. The results suggested that male college students are more susceptible to the impact of system quality and social influence.