LMS-enabled blended learning utilization in distance tertiary education: establishing the relationships among facilitating conditions, voluntariness of use and use behaviour

Distance education has evolved partly through technologies that defined them in the various generations of distance education delivery. However, in the twenty-first century, the use of Learning Management System (LMS) has changed the face of distance education delivery. Even the traditional face-to-face based distance education mode is now adopting the LMS as a mediating technology between instructors and students. However, in the usage of LMS-enabled blended learning, several factors have been cited in the literature as enablers towards actual usage of LMS technology. Factors such as facilitating conditions, voluntariness of use and actual use behaviour have been important in contemporary literature. Despite their importance, the chasm in the literature is the nuances existing in terms of relationships between these three factors. This study fills the gap by defining a model based on the three factors to provide an in depth empirical study on their relationships and how they influence LMS-enabled blended learning uptake of distance education by tutors. The study thus employs a cross country survey to collect data from 267 tutors and offer analysis by way of a Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) approach. The study revealed important relationships among facilitating conditions, voluntariness of use and use behaviour of LMS-enabled blended learning such that facilitating conditions predicted voluntariness of use and actual use behaviour; voluntariness of use determined actual LMS use behaviour for blended learning in distance education. The study finally provided recommendations based on the findings for policy and practice of LMS-enabled blended learning in distance education.