Toward an extended behavioral intention model for e-learning: Using learning and teaching styles as individual differences

E-learning has continued to gain attention in enterprises and universities. As higher education deploys more e-learning systems, it is important for researchers to evaluate the performance of these systems. With the growing trend toward web-based learning systems, behavioral intention models (such as TAM, TPB, TAM2, UTAUT) seem particularly helpful to examine whether and why people use e-learning technologies. Although a number of studies have presented factors that influence the adoption of e-learning, few studies have investigated the moderating effects of cognitive-oriented individual differences. Previous studies have presented various perspectives on individual difference that have focused on demographic variables, such as age, gender, education, and individual experience. Our theoretical model focuses on cognitive-oriented individual differences to synthesize relevant characteristics of users and systems. This study extends the TAM model, the most frequently adopted behavioral intention theory, by considering cognitive-oriented individual differences (e.g., learning and teaching styles) and presenting a new theoretical framework to examine the acceptance of e-learning technologies.