EXPLORING THE GENDER DIFFERENCES IN STUDENT ACCEPTENCE OF AN INTERNET-BASED LEARNING MEDIUM

The specific features of the Internet have created an ideal place for teaching and learning. There has been a lot of attention on how and why students adopt and use an Internet-based learning medium. In recent years, we witnessed a significant amount of studies on the impact of contextual factors (such as gender difference) on technology usage. These studies have shown that male and female users seem to use technology in a very different way. In view of this, we attempt to explore the gender differences in student acceptance of an Internet-based learning medium (ILM). Specifically, we examine the gender differences in the relative impact of both extrinsic and intrinsic motivations, as well as the social influence on student acceptance of an ILM. A total of 504 students participated in this study. Attitude has the strongest direct effect on behavioral intention for both male and female students. Perceived usefulness influences attitude and behavioral intention to use an ILM more strongly for male students than it influences female students, whilst subjective norm is a more important factor determining female students’ intention to use an ILM than it is for male students. We conclude the paper by discussing its theoretical and practical implications.