PerLE: An “Open Source”, ELearning Moodle-Based, Platform. A Study of University Undergraduates’ Acceptance

The implementation of innovative eLearning platforms offers numerous benefits, but it is important to understand individual acceptance and use of new technological systems in the educational setting. This study adopts a modified version of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), including three service quality constructs as external variables, to assess students' acceptance of PerLE, a Moodle-based eLearning platform developed at the University of Calabria (Italy). A six-section questionnaire, which was based on previous studies, was administered to 293 undergraduate students. Results show that the quality of online courses is the main construct that affects students' acceptance of PerLE. We found also that the PerLE user interface was a critical issue, requiring improvements to facilitate ease of use. In addition, the study underlines the important influence of Technical Support as an antecedent to the two main constructs of the TAM: PerLE Usefulness and PerLE Ease of Use.