The Effects of Previous Experience and Self Efficacy on the Acceptance of e-Learning Platforms among Younger Students in Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, some e-learning initiatives such as the Future Gate Project (FGP) and Madrasati (MySchool) have been in place since 2018 and 2020, respectively. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, they were used as a means of distance learning for students across the country. This paper investigates the willingness of students to use the e-learning platforms and whether it varies across different sex and age group. Primary data in the form of a survey of 265 secondary school students across the Makkah region was analysed with Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) by using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as a theoretical framework. We found that students' self-efficacy, which is strongly influenced by their previous experience with the underlying technology used in the e-learning platforms, has a positive effect for older students in high school, yet surprisingly, a negative one for younger students in middle school. We also found that perceived ease of use and social influence to be the most important factors behind the students' acceptance of e-learning platforms and that the effects are stronger for female students than for male students. While this study was conducted in Saudi Arabia, the findings from this study provide a first-hand insight that can help ensure the continuity of the e-learning platforms if they are to be implemented permanently as distance learning platforms even after the end of the pandemic that is also applicable to any other countries.