Telematics and Informatics 33 (2016) 9901013

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Telematics and Informatics

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tele

Predicting the acceptance of cloud-based virtual learning

environment: The roles of Self Determination and Channel
Expansion Theory
Teck-Soon Hew a, Sharifah Latifah Syed Abdul Kadir b,
a
b

Faculty of Business and Accountancy, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Department of Operation and Management Information System, Faculty of Business and Accountancy, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 16 November 2015
Received in revised form 11 January 2016
Accepted 29 January 2016
Available online 11 February 2016
Keywords:
Cloud-based VLE
Self Determination Theory
Channel Expansion Theory
VLE content design
VLE interactivity

a b s t r a c t
The emergence of the cloud computing technology has further enhanced the capabilities of
the cloud-based virtual learning environment (VLE) compared to the grid computing based
VLE as teaching resources can be accessed, saved, retrieved and shared on the cloud any
time any where without any limitation. Unlike existing VLE literature that examines
extrinsic motivation (e.g. TAM; UTAUT) from the perspective of the learners in the context
of the conventional grid-computing VLE; this study examine the intrinsic motivation from
the teachers perspective in the context of the cloud-based VLE. So far, the influences of Self
Determination Theory (i.e. relatedness, competence, autonomy) and Channel Expansion
Theory (i.e. media richness) have been over-looked. In this study, the roles of SDT, CET,
VLE content design and interactivity together with the trust-in-website, attitude toward
knowledge sharing and school support are being examined. A sample of 1064 respondents
was gathered using simple random sampling across the country and analyzed with
PLS-SEM. The research model is able to predict intention to use with 65.96% variance
explained. SDT, CET, VLE content design, Attitude toward knowledge sharing,
trust-in-website, school support and education significantly effects intention to use VLE.
This study provides theoretical and practical implications while contributing to the VLE
literature.
2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The Malaysian government has launched the 1BestariNet (means 1SmartNet) project as a platform to transform teaching
and learning while establishing Malaysia as a model of excellence in Internet-enabled integrated learning. The project is
aimed at delivering world class education to 5.5 million school children spread across 10,000 schools, over 329,847 square
kilometers with 500,000 teachers and 4.5 million parents using the sophisticated 4G connectivity to the Frog virtual learning
environment (VLE) delivered through FrogAsia via a joint venture between the Malaysian Ministry of Education (MoE) and
YTL Communications. The 1BestariNet project is the worlds first nation-wide deployment of school in the cloud. Fig. 1
depicts the components of the 1BestariNet.
VLE is a web-based communications platform that allows students, without limitation of time and place, to access different learning tools, such as program information, course content, teacher assistance, discussion boards, document sharing
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: hewtecksoon@gmail.com (T.-S. Hew), slhadad@um.edu.my (S. L. S. A. Kadir).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2016.01.004
0736-5853/ 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

T.-S. Hew, Sharifah Latifah Syed Abdul Kadir / Telematics and Informatics 33 (2016) 9901013

991

Fig. 1. 1BestariNet components. Note: 1BRIS = 1BestariNet receiver integrated system.

Fig. 2. Login to the Frog VLE platform.

systems, and learning resources (Van Raaij and Schepers, 2008, p. 839). The Frog VLE (Fig. 2) was meant to fostering an innovative Malaysians generation who are empowered to acquire possession of their education and are ready to contend in a
worldwide knowledge-based economy.

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Although with a long record of integrating technology into the schools however research findings reveal that teachers are
not maximizing the adoption of technology. For decade, MoE has spent the equivalent of 1 billion pound sterling (USD1.6bn)
on ICT in education initiatives. However, the usage of ICT in schools still falls short of expectation with one study finding that
nearly 80% of teachers spent not more than 1 h a week using ICT. Although teachers have been sent for courses to obtain skill
and knowledge in real use of computer and ICT, most have fallen back to conventional instruction (Kumar et al., 2008).
Hence, we should enhance the level of ICT usage in classrooms to alleviate the issue of under-optimization of ICT usage
in class room teaching. Besides that, majority of the prior researches focused primarily on the undergraduates or university
instructors contexts. Since the culture and environment of teaching and learning in universities and schools are different in
terms of subject syllabus, pedagogical approach, levels of instruction, assessment and evaluation, education administration,
structure of organization and etc., the studies findings may differ and inapplicable to the school context. Besides, all the
studies were aimed at identifying the underlying factors of VLE acceptance from the learners context and very few have
focused on teachers perspective on a nation wide scale.
Furthermore, the previous studies have focused mainly on the online or web based learning systems such as Moodle, eLMS, WBLS, Blackboard and etc. which use the conventional grid computing technology that do not provide the facilities of
unlimited storage space, information sharing and collaboration as well as access to teaching and learning resource material
in comparison to the facilities provided by the cloud computing infrastructure. Cloud computing offers opportunity of flexibility and adaptability to use the computing resources on-demand (Ercan, 2010, p. 939). Besides, it also supports socially
oriented theories of learning and cooperative learning via collaborative instruction approaches (Thorsteinsson et al., 2010).
The implication of 24/7 accessibility and accessible-anywhere of the cloud-based Frog VLE provide a clear demarcation and
distinction between grid-based and cloud-based VLEs in terms of changed capabilities, functionalities and opportunities for
teachers and students.
Previously only TAM (Snchez and Hueros, 2010), TAM2 (Van Raaij and Schepers, 2008), TAM-ISSM (Motaghian et al.,
2013) and UTAUT (Sumak et al., 2010) were used as the research models. These studies have mostly focused on the extrinsic
motivational or utilitarian factors instead of the intrinsic factors such as teachers self determination and motivation toward
using the VLE technology. There is scarcity in the studies on effects of self-motivation and self determination to use the VLE
without any external influence and interference. Furthermore, none of these studies have examined the influences media
richness. As the VLE consists of a media rich environment with lots of video, sound, animation, graphics and other multimedia elements, the effects of media richness are worth studying. Hence, it would be interesting to examine whether the self
determination and media richness play significant roles in influencing teachers to use the VLE system.
Moreover, the task specific characteristics of content design and interactivity of the VLE system have been omitted in the
previous studies. Since the VLE system provide various teaching and learning contents such as teaching community,
FrogStore online resources, teaching sites, assignment module, forums, quizzes, email and etc, the impacts of these content
design may need further investigation. Similarly, as the VLE involves interactivity between the teachers and the VLE system,
the effects of interactivity toward the intention to use and perceived instructional effectiveness warrant an investigation to
be carried out. As the cloud-based Frog VLE enables knowledge sharing of educational resources in the cloud, it would be
interesting to see whether knowledge sharing attitude has any effects on teachers behavioral intention. Finally, school
support is included to see whether there are any impacts on the adoption of the VLE.

2. Literature review
To evade from reinventing the wheel, we have conducted extensive literature review pertaining to the adoption of the
cloud-based VLE but to our best effort, there are no studies on this subject matter. However, we have managed to obtain
some VLE related studies that uses the conventional grid computing technology or web based VLE. The literature review
showed that focus has been given from the perspective of undergraduates or students and not from the teachers perspective.
These studies have deployed extrinsic motivational factors such as TAM, TAM2, ISSM, 3-TUM, ELSS or UTAUT. There are no
studies that examine the roles of SDT and CET on the use of VLE. Since SDT involves intrinsic motivational factors while CET
encompasses the media richness attribute of the VLE platform, a study on their impacts on behavioral intention will surely
contribute to the existing IS literature. Besides that there is hardly any attention given to the characteristics of VLE such as
content design, interactivity and attitude toward knowledge sharing. These special cloud-based VLE attributes may provide
vital insight on the behavioral intention of teachers. Due to the fact that the cloud-based Frog VLE is a relatively new context
that is enabled with cloud-based capabilities and the lack of focus on the influence of the internal self determination and
media richness on VLE acceptance, it would be useful to investigate the roles that SDT and CET can play in predicting the
adoption of VLE.
Based on the review, we found that there are several validity issues pertaining to the data analyses and findings. For
examples, except for Eom (2012), none of the studies have engaged English back-translation into local languages. This
may compromise the accuracy of the original meanings as cultural differences may give rise to variation in interpretations.
Except for Sun and Hsu (2012), no expert panels were engaged in validating the face validity of the instrument. Besides, the
content validity was not validated as there are no reports of content validity index. Since these studies have used a single
instrument for both independent and dependent variables and common method bias was not examined, CMB issues may
arise. Besides that, non-response bias is also ignored. The validity of the data analyses is also problematic as there were

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no tests on multivariate assumptions (i.e. normality, linearity, multicollinearity and homoscedasticity). Finally, except for
Motaghian et al. (2013) who used cluster sampling, convenience sampling was engaged and this may reduce the accuracy
and generalization of the findings. A summary of the past VLE related studies is shown in Table 1.
Sumak et al. (2010) used the UTAUT model which is an upgrade of the TAM model (Lee et al., 2001; Motaghian et al.,
2013; Snchez and Hueros, 2010) and TAM2 (Van Raaij and Schepers, 2008). The core constructs in these models are
perceived usefulness (eq. performance expectancy) and perceived ease-of-use (eq. effort expectancy). Although these models
do have their merits and are able to explain behavioral intention of the VLE however the important roles of intrinsic
motivation (e.g. self determination), media richness and task related constructs of the cloud-based VLE such as interactivity,
content design, trust-in-website and attitude toward knowledge sharing have been unintentionally overlooked. Similarly,
the 3-tier use model (Liaw, 2008), ELSS (Eom, 2012) and ISSM (Motaghian et al., 2013) have mainly focused on the information, system and service quality, usage intention and users satisfaction. Not much has been done in examining the roles of
SDT, CET and VLE task related constructs. Hence, it is imperative to further extend the previous works in order to advance the
extant literature especially from the cloud-based VLE context.
3. Theoretical background
In the next section, we will elucidate the two theories underpinning this study.
3.1. Self Determination Theory (SDT)
SDT is a macro theory of motivation which expounds scientifically the dynamics of motivation, well-being and needs
from the social perspective (Deci and Ryan, 1985). Self-determination is referred as a quality of human functioning that
involves the experience of choice. It is the capacity to choose and have those choices. . .be the determinants of ones actions
(Deci and Ryan, 1985, p. 38). SDT is about the self determination at the back of the options which a person makes without
any external interference or influence and the fundamental psychological desires that are the foundation of their selfmotivation. SDT asserts that mankind has three universal and fundamental needs of relatedness (i.e. the sense of included
or affiliated with others), autonomy (i.e. the feeling of control and agency) and competency (i.e. the sense of capability with
activities and tasks). The relatedness is referred as the desire of feeling connected, to love, to be loved, to care and care for
while autonomy implies a yearning to act with desire to feel psychologically free. Deci and Ryan (2000) assert that competence is our craving to interact efficiently toward the surroundings, to experience a feeling of competence in achieving desire
results and to avert undesirable happenings. In this study, perceived relatedness is define as the sense of identification or
connectedness an individual feels with other humans where as perceived autonomy is the degree of having control over an
individuals own actions (Yoon and Rolland, 2012, p. 1136). Likewise, perceived competence is an individuals belief that he
or she can perform a particular task or behavior effectively. (Yoon and Rolland, 2012, p. 1135).
Unlike the Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1982) which theorized motivation as a colossal construct, SDT hypothesizes
motivation into 3 major groups of intrinsic motivation (i.e. doing an act as it is pleasurable, aesthetically pleasing and optimally challenging), extrinsic motivation (i.e. performing a act as it brings about a independent result) and amotivation (i.e.
the condition of intention deficiency to act). The extrinsic motivation is divided into 4 kinds of introjected, identified, external and integrated regulation (Fig. 3). Amotivation is the slightest self-determined motivation whereas intrinsic motivation
indicates the strongest self-determined motivation. SDT presumes that self-determined motivation (i.e. identified regulation
& intrinsic motivation) will bring about positive consequences and non-self-determined motivation (amotivation, external
and introjected regulation) will bring about negative consequences (Deci and Ryan, 1985). Hence, the three SDT constructs
are relevant to the features of VLE in terms of flexible learning (i.e. any time, any where), technical competencies, computermediated instruction and social interaction.
3.2. Channel Expansion Theory (CET)
By integrating the core concepts of media richness and social influence theories, CET (Carlson and Zmud, 1999) extended
Media Richness Theory (MRT) further than its original dogmatic structure by examining how media richness perceptions
temporal expansion through an individuals media richness perception via the acquirement of numerous experiences. Via
these experiences, individuals build related social information processing schema foundation which can encode/decode rich
media more effectively. Individuals media richness perception is based on experiences with the topic, the media, a communication partner and the organizational context while media richness is an essential aspect of the choice and adoption of
media (Carlson and Zmud, 1999).
Knowledge-building experience of the organizations members influences the media richness perception. The experience
with communication channel would allow individuals to learn the selections, attributes, applications and restrictions of the
channel. This would allow more efficient use of communication channel by adapting its application to the attributes of the
required function that would eventually lead to increase in perceived media richness by the individual. Experiences with a
communication partner that include interactions and mutual learning like language patterns and message construction will
allow the individual to use a richer language and to encode the messages leading to related cues specifically for him or her.

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Table 1
Past VLE related studies.
Context of the study

Sampling procedure

Statistical analyses

Theory or model

Findings

Sumak et al. (2010)

Acceptance of Moodle
(Slovenia)

SEM

UTAUT

PE and SI influence ATT. SI and ATT influence BI. BI and

FC influence AU. R2 is not stated

Van Raaij and

Schepers (2008)

Acceptance of CassLearn
(China)

SEM

TAM2, SN, PIIT & CA

Snchez and Hueros

(2010)

Acceptance of Moodle (Spain)

SEM

TAM, technical support &

perceived self-efficacy

PIIT influences PEOU and CA. CA influences PEOU. PU is

influenced by PEOU and SN. AU is affected by PU and
PEOU. R2 for AU is 31%, PU 54%, PEOU 59% and PIIT 10%
Technical support influences PEOU and PU. PEOU and
ATT influence AU. The R2 for PU, ATT and AU are 54%,
77% and 41%

Chou and Liu (2005)

Technology-mediated VLE
(Taiwan)

Pre-test and pilot test then online

survey with convenient sample of
235 undergraduates at the Faculty of
Electrical Engineering and Computer
Science
A convenient sample of 40 Chinese
managers from the Executive MBA
program
Pre-test and a convenient sample of
226 undergraduates of the Faculty of
Business Sciences and the Faculty of
Educational Science at the University
of Huelva
Convenient sample of 210 Hsing-Kuo
High School students

Eom (2012)

e-Learning Management
System (USA)

Online survey of a convenient sample

of 674 undergraduates in Midwest
USA

Factor analysis,
Independent
samples t-test,
paired t-test
SEM

Learner control, learning

performance, self
efficacy, satisfaction &
climate
E-learning system
success (ELSS)

Motaghian et al.
(2013)

Web-based Learning System

(Iran)

SEM

TAM, ISSM, self-efficacy &

SN

Sun and Hsu (2013)

Web-based Instruction
(Taiwan)

Cluster sampling of 115 university

instructors from two Iranian
universities
Convenient sample of 42
undergraduates

One-way ANOVA
and ANCOVA

Liaw (2008)

Blackboard (Taiwan)

Convenient sample of 424

undergraduates

Stepwise multiple
regression

Perceived interactivity,
ATT, satisfaction &
perceived learning
Three-tier use model (3TUM)

Lee et al. (2001)

Experience, attitude toward

computer and awareness on
PU, PEOU of ICT (Malaysia)
Web-based Learning
(Malaysia)

Sample of 330 private college

students

Descriptive analysis
(frequency and %)

TAM

Sample of 248 undergraduates from 8

universities

One-way ANOVA,
Chi-square test

None

Poon et al. (2004)

Students in TVLE achieved better learning performance,

report higher levels of computer self-efficacy,
satisfaction and learning climate
Self-efficacy influences AU. SQ and InfQ influence user
satisfaction. User satisfaction influences system
effectiveness. R2 for AU is 50.9%, user satisfaction 75.4%
and system effectiveness 82.1%
InfQ and SN influence PU. InfQ, SerQ, SN and self-efficacy
influence PEOU. BI is influenced by PU, PEOU and SQ. BI
directly influences AU. The R2 for BI is 53% and AU 16%
Perceived interactivity influences ATT and satisfaction

Perceived self-efficacy, multimedia instruction and SQ

influence satisfaction (R2 = 0.613). PU and perceived
satisfaction influence BI (R2 = 0.619). Multimedia
instruction, interactive learning activities and SQ
influence learning effectiveness (R2 = 0.681)
Experience and Level of studies affect PU and PEOU. PU
and PEOU influence ATT. R2 was no stated since a
descriptive analysis was engaged
Students behavior and attitude, technology/system,
Interactive applications, institutional factors and
instructors characteristics have effects on learning
effectiveness

Note: PU = perceived usefulness, PEOU = perceive ease of use, ATT = attitude, BI = behavioral intention, AU = actual use, FC = facilitating conditions, SI = social influence, SN = subjective norm, InfQ = information
quality, SerQ = service quality, SQ = system quality, CA = computer anxiety.

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Author(s)

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995

Fig. 3. The self determination continuum. Note: PLOC = perceived locus of control. Kleih and Kbler (2013).

Similarly, the experiences in knowledge-building of a topic may allow users to adopt specialized, common jargon and
facilitate easy communication. Lastly, the use of shared cultural references and symbols in an organizational context will
enable for a richer communication via the channel as a result from the raise in the modernization of the knowledge base.
Due to the fact that the cloud-based Frog VLE is equipped with a rich variety of media, the construct of perceived media richness (PMR) from CET is indeed relevant to the research context. In this research, PMR is referred as the level to which a teacher believes that VLE is capable of carrying a wide range of media according to the criteria of capacity in immediate
feedback, personal focus, multiple cues and language variety (Dennis and Kinney, 1998; Fernandez et al., 2013).
4. Research model development
Drawing from SDT and CET, we proposed an integrated SDTCET model for cloud-based VLE motivation. CET has been
studied in evolution of online discussion forum (Fernandez et al., 2013) and mobile instant messaging (Ogara et al., 2014)
but not in the context of VLE. On the other hand, SDT has been studied as the indirect antecedents of undergraduate online
learner motivation (Chen and Jang, 2010) and university college teachers e-learning continuance intention (Roca and Gagn,
2008); nevertheless its role as direct determinants of intention to use VLE from the context of school teachers remains unexplored. Similarly, interactivity (Chen et al., 2007), content design (Lee et al., 2009) and school support (Lai and Chen, 2011)
have been studied from the context of e-learning, e-CRM and teaching blogs respectively. The influence of these constructs
from the VLE context has not been studied. Therefore these theories and constructs are included in developing the theoretical model. Table 2 illustrates the construct analysis.
The current study fits, builds on and extends the previous works which used TAM, UTAUT and ISSM in predicting behavioral intention from the new context of cloud-based VLE by developing new causal relationships using SDT, CET theories and
VLE related constructs of interactivity, content design with trust-in-website and knowledge sharing attitude acting as the
mediator variables.
5. Hypothesis development
Perceived relatedness may be conceptualized as the sense of connectedness and identification a person feels with others.
According to SDT, individuals are more inclined to support their groups goals when they are connected to members of the
group. Once the persons are in an autonomy-supportive mode, they will possess a feeling of connectedness that will increase
their motivation (Yoon and Rolland, 2012). This sense of connectedness and identification will positively influence knowledge sharing behaviors (Shen et al., 2010). The perception of togetherness will promote an individuals activeness to share
knowledge and thus we suggest the following hypothesis:

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Table 2
Construct analysis of past VLE related studies.
Relationship

Author(s)
Sumak
et al.
(2010)

PIIT ? ANX
EE ? AT
PE ? AT
PEOU ? AT
PU ? AT
SI ? AT
TS ? AT
AT ? BI
EE ? BI
IQ ? BI
PE ? BI
PEOU ? BI
PU ? BI
SAT ? BI
SE ? BI
SerQ ? BI
SI ? BI
SN ? BI
SQ ? BI
ILA ? ELE
MI ? ELE
SQ ? ELE
ANX ?
PEOU
IQ ? PEOU
PIIT ?
PEOU
SE ? PEOU
SerQ ?
PEOU
SN ? PEOU
SQ ? PEOU
TS ? PEOU
ILA ? PU
IQ ? PU
MI ? PU
PEOU ? PU
PIIT ? PU
SE ? PU
SerQ ? PU
SN ? PU
SQ ? PU
TS ? PU
IQ ? SAT
MI ? SAT
SE ? SAT
SML ? SAT
SQ ? SAT
SAT ? SEF
U ? SEF
AT ? U
BI ? U
FC ? U
IQ ? U
PEOU ? U
PU ? U
SAT ? U
SE ? U
SML ? U
SN ? U
SQ ? U

Van Raaij and

Schepers (2008)

Snchez and
Hueros (2010)

Chou and
Liu (2005)

Eom
(2012)

Motaghian
et al. (2013)

Sun and
Hsu
(2013)

Liaw
(2008)

Lee et al.
(2001)

Poon
et al.
(2004)

ns
+
+
+
+
ns
ns
ns
ns
ns
+
+

+
+

ns
ns
+
ns
+
+
+
+


+
+
+
+
+
ns
+
+
+
+
+
ns

ns
ns
ns
+
ns

+
+
+
+

ns
ns
+
+
ns

+
+
+

+
ns
ns
+

+
ns
ns
+
ns

ns
ns

Note: + indicates significant positive relationship;
indicates significant negative relationship; ns = not significant; *indicate the study involves no causal
relationships, PIIT = personal innovativeness in IT; ANX = anxiety; PE = performance expectancy, EE = effort expectancy, SI = social influence, AT = attitude,
PU = perceived usefulness, PEOU = perceive ease of use, SN = subjective norm, SE = self efficacy, SQ = system quality, IQ = information quality; SerQ = service
quality; SE = self efficacy; SML = self managed learning; SAT = satisfaction; SEF = system effectiveness; TS = technical support; MI = multimedia instruction;
ILA = interactive learning activities; ELE = e-learning effectiveness; U = use.

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997

H1a. Perceived relatedness has positive significant influence on attitude toward knowledge sharing.
The want for relatedness for teachers who manage learners adoption of e-learning signifies the longing to get associated
with and supported by individuals in the social surroundings (Sreb et al., 2009). Satisfying the desire for connectedness
and support within a social perspective will affect the extent of motivation (Deci and Ryan, 1985). The indirect effect of perceived relatedness on BI has been verified by Sreb et al. (2009) and Roca and Gagn (2008). According to SDT, people tend
to support their groups objectives more when they are connected with other members. Deci and Ryan (2000) assert that
when actions are not innately enjoyable or appealing, the core rationale why they execute them is due to the appreciation
by significant others to whom they feel associated (i.e. colleagues, friends or family). Hence, we anticipate that the level of
perceived relatedness will positively influence the extent of intention to use VLE among teachers. Thus, the following
hypothesis is constructed:
H1b. Perceived relatedness positively and significantly influences behavioral intention to use VLE.
The Frog VLE is a cloud-based instructional platform which supports collaborative instruction methods (Thorsteinsson
et al., 2010). For instance, teachers may collaborate through the Community and Forum applications to share their instructional experiences and creative ideas. Since personal attitudes toward behavior are significant predictors of intention to
engage in that behavior therefore an individuals behavioral intention to share knowledge may be determined by the attitude
toward knowledge sharing (Chow and Chan, 2008, p. 460). It may be hypothesized that when the level of teachers attitude
toward knowledge sharing is high, their behavioral intention will also increase. Hence we may theorize that:
H1c. Attitude toward knowledge sharing positively and significantly influences behavioral intention to use VLE.
Gagn and Deci (2005) assert that autonomy influences the level of intrinsic motivation since it drives integration and
internalization of extrinsic motivation that may bring about authentic intrinsic motivation. Sreb et al. (2009) and Roca
and Gagn (2008) found that there is indirect effect of perceived autonomy on BI. Gagn et al. (2000) discovered that management autonomy support directly influences acceptance of organizational changes. A need of autonomy signifies a yearning to self-regulate teachers engagement in using VLE (Sreb et al., 2009). It is expected that autonomy will influence the
degree of intrinsic motivation as it drives integration and internalization of extrinsic motivation that will bring about
authentic intrinsic motivation (Gagn and Deci, 2005). It is therefore theorized that when teachers perceive that they have
the autonomy in using VLE, their intention to use VLE will also increase. Based on these justifications, we would like to
hypothesize that:
H2. Perceived autonomy has positive significant influence on intention to use VLE.
Sreb et al. (2009) opined that instructors will feel more qualified to manage learners adoption of e-learning if the need
for e-learning competence is fulfilled. Perceived competence has been found to have significant indirect impact on BI (Roca
and Gagn, 2008). It is presumed that the degree of perceived competence will influence the teachers level of confirmation
(Sreb et al., 2009). We expect that VLE competence will make teachers more effective in using VLE and boost teachers
behavioral intention. Thus, the hypothesis is theorized as follows:
H3a. Perceived competence has positive and significant influence on behavioral intention to use VLE.
Perceived competency in Frog VLE includes teachers abilities to use the VLE platform to perform various instructional
activities. These competencies will enable them to understand the operations and contents of the VLE system. It is with this
understanding comes the confidence and trust to use the system. We anticipate a teacher with low perceived competency to
be less convinced and trust the VLE compared to a teacher that have high degree of perceived competency. Hence, we come
up with the following hypothesis:
H3b. Perceived competency positively and significantly influences trust in website.
Hsu et al. (2011) suggested that online trust may be categorized into 2 categories based on the nature of trust namely,
system trust and interpersonally trust. System trust is the belief resulting from the reliability and reliance of an information
system while interpersonal trust refers to the belief resulting from the feeling of secure for other parties in the social
exchange (Hsu et al., 2014, p. 237). It is believed that the more the teachers perceive that the VLE system is trustable,
the more likely the intention for them to use the system. Thus, the hypothesis is formulated as follows:
H3c. Trust in website has positive significant influence on behavioral intention.
School support is defined as the level to which a teacher perceives that schools are dedicated to successful execution and
adoption of VLE (Venkatesh and Bala, 2008). Previous studies have shown that management support is crucial in the acceptance of technology innovation assistance as the needed resources can be obtained effortlessly (Huang et al., 2009). If top
management is supportive of information systems (ISs), more resources are expected to be provided to support and develop

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the ISs (Yap, 1989) and thus boosting the facilitating conditions for the ISs (Thong et al., 1996). Hence, it is theorized that
when the management of the school strongly supports teachers to use VLE, this will increase the level of facilitation for
teachers to use the VLE system. Thus, the below hypothesis is theorized:
H4. School support positively and significantly influences behavioral intention to use VLE.
Dennis and Kinney (1998) opine that richer media may allow users to communicate faster and to better comprehend
equivocal or ambiguous messages and thus would result in better performance. Saeed et al. (2010) assert that PMR has direct
impact on attitude and attitude has direct impact on intention to use blog/podcast. (Saeed et al., 2008) on the other hand
found that PMR influences perceived usefulness while perceived usefulness directly affect on intention to use second life.
Saeed and Sinnappan (2010) have validated the effect of PMR on BI of blog, podcast and second life. Since media richness
is referred as the capacity of carrying information of a medium or its capability to facilitate understanding and shared meaning (Daft and Lengel, 1983), it is presumed that media richness positively influences individuals intention to use a technology. Therefore, it is theorized that when users perceived VLE to be rich with variety of media such as video, audio, text,
graphic, animation and etc, the intention to use VLE will be intensified. The multi-media environment tends to attract learners attention more easily compared to the conventional chalk-and-talk instructional method. Thus, teachers may perceived
that using a media rich platform may provide a more conducive and interesting environment for learning. Hence, we would
like to posit the hypothesis as follows:
H5a. PMR has positive significant influence on behavioral intention to use VLE.
The Frog VLE comes with a media rich interface that allows for easy interaction between the teachers and the Frog OS.
Teachers will be able to capture pictures, sound, videos, animations and etc from the cloud and use various media channels
to disseminate the knowledge to the students. A study has found that PMR has positive influence on interactivity of online
discussion forum (Balaji and Chakrabarti, 2010). Therefore, we postulate that in the context of the cloud-based VLE, when the
level of media richness is increased, there will also be equivalent increase in the level of interactivity. Therefore, we would
posit the hypothesis as follows:
H5b. PMR has positive significant influence on VLE interactivity.
Users are more likely to perceive that adopting e-learning services is easy when e-learning services are equipped with
abundant contents tailored to fulfill their needs (Lee et al., 2009). The indirect effects of content design on BI have been verified by Lee et al. (2009). Hong et al. (2002) also found that screen design has positive indirect effect on BI of digital libraries.
It is hypothesized that when teachers perceive the content design is appropriate and comprehensive, the intention to use VLE
will be higher. Teachers may be reluctant to use VLE if the system is unable to provide comprehensive and adequate content
in accordance with the national curriculum. Therefore, the hypothesis is theorized as follows:
H6a. VLE content design positively and significantly influences behavioral intention.
To enhance the VLE content design, more pictures, graphics, photos, sound, videos, animations and other means of
instructional media will be included in the creation of departmental sites in the Frog VLE. Giving the media richness of these
contents, we forecast that the degree of PMR will also be increased accordingly. Hence, the following hypothesis is
formulated:
H6b. VLE content design has positive and significant influence on PMR.

5.1. Control variables

Since VLE involves some IT and computer skills, teachers will specialization related to these skills may have higher intention to use VLE compared to other non-IT or non-computer specialized teachers. Thus, it is hypothesized that specialization
will have some confounding effect on BI. Therefore, we put forward the following hypothesis:
H7. Specialization has positive significant influence on behavioral intention to use VLE.
User experience was found to have a positive effect on system usage (DeLone, 1988). Thus, it is assumed that teaching
experience will have some confounding effect on BI. Hence, the hypothesis is posited as follows:
H8. Teaching experience has positive significant influence on behavioral intention to use VLE.
Individual differences are assumed to be most pertinent to both human-computer interaction studies (Dillon and Watson,
1996) and IS success (Harrison and Rainer, 1992). Leong et al. (2011) found that there is indirect effect of academic qualifi-

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cation on BI. Hence, it is theorized that educational level will have some confounding effect on BI. Hence, the following
hypothesis is theorized:
H9. Educational level has positive significant influence on behavioral intention to use VLE.
Hence, we would like to propose a SDTCET model in predicting the behavioral intention of Frog VLE as in Fig. 4.
6. Research methodology
To examine the research model, we have engaged survey method to gather the data and then used Structural Equation
Modeling (SEM) with Partial Least Square (PLS) to corroborate the hypotheses.
6.1. Measurement and instrument development
The development and validation of the research instrument have been reported in a separated paper. The steps involved
in this process are illustrated in Fig. 5. Every item was measured using 7-point Likert scale as it is able to provide greater
dispersion while avoiding neutral responses. The responses ranges from (1) strongly disagree to (7) strongly agree. The list
of items and their sources are shown in Appendix A. The Malay version of the survey instrument can be obtained from the
authors upon request.
6.2. Sample and data collection procedures
As of 31 December 2014, the population of teachers is 419,820. The list of 351 champion schools is used as the sampling
frame with the unit of analysis being the Malaysian primary and secondary school teacher. The list of champion schools may
be obtained from the authors upon request. Champion schools are selected schools which were given training on Frog VLE by
FrogAsia. Simple random sampling is used to select 50 schools across the country after approvals were obtained from MoE,
state and district education departments as well as headmasters and principals. Questionnaires were posted to these schools
using registered self-addressed envelops. In total 1720 questionnaires were posted and 1240 were returned. Due to incompleteness and double entries, only 1075 were usable samples, hence the response rate is 72.1%.

Self Determination Theory

H1a

Perceived
Relatedness

Attitude toward
Knowledge
Sharing
H1c

H1b

Perceived
Autonomy

H2
VLE
Behavioral Intention

H3a

Perceived
Competency

H3b

H3c

Trust in
Website
H4
H5a

School Support

H6a

H7

H8

H9

Channel Expansion Theory

Perceived Media
Richness
H5b
VLE
Interactivity

H6b
VLE Content
Design

Specialization

Teaching
Experience
Control Variables

VLE attribute constructs

Fig. 4. Research model.

Education
Level

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Fig. 5. Steps in development and validation of the VLE instrument.

7. Data analysis
In accordance with Anderson and Gerbing (1988), a 2-stage analysis was use in the data analysis with the first stage for
testing measurement model and the subsequent stage to examine the structural causal relationships. SmartPLS 3.0 (Ringle
et al., 2015) was deployed based on the following justifications. First, the aim of the research is to maximize the variance
explain in predicting the behavioral intention and not estimation of model fitness. Secondly, the study is exploratory in
its nature emphasizing on theory building (i.e. SDTCET) rather than confirmation of an established theory. Lastly, the lack
of theoretical foundation, non-normality of data distribution and the high complexity of the research model with large number of variables further support the need to use the variance-based SEM compared to the covariance-based SEM.
7.1. Common method bias (CMB)
Since a single instrument was used to gather the independent and dependent variables, the issue of CMB may arise.
Therefore, we have carried out Harmans single factor analysis and discovered that the percentage of variance explained
by a single factor is less than 50%. Hence we concluded that there is no issue of CMB.
7.2. Assessment of multivariate assumptions
The p < 0.05 of one-sample KolmogorovSmirnov test of normality indicated non-normality. The p > 0.05 of the deviation from linearity indicated that there are linear relationships between most of the IVs and DVs. For those that do not
conform to this requirement, p < 0.05 of Ordinary Least Square further confirmed existence of linearity. Pearsons
r < 0.90 (Tan et al., 2014) and VIF < 10 with tolerance >0.10 (Sim et al., 2014) indicated no issue of multicollinearity.
Homoscedasticity was validated using scatter plots of DVs and their regression standardized residuals. Based on Mahalanobis distance, 11 outliers were detected leading to the sample size of 1064 which is above the rule of thumb of 10 times
the maximum arrows pointing to an endogenous construct or 10 time the maximum number of indicators of the most
complicated construct.

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7.3. Results
7.3.1. Measurement model
Table 3 shows that all average variance extracted (AVE) exceed 0.50 indicating adequate convergent validity while all CR
and alpha values are above 0.70 implying good construct reliability (Hair et al., 2012). Construct reliability is confirmed as all
CR are greater than AVE (Table 4). In terms of indicator reliability, the square values of the indicators loadings are greater
than 0.70 indicating adequate indicator reliability (Wong et al., 2015). Similarly, all square roots of AVE are larger than their
relevant correlation coefficients while the Fornell-Larckers (1991) ratio is less than one; validating the discriminant validity
of the constructs. This is further confirmed as all AVE are greater than MSV and ASV and all items load strongly to the relevant construct and weakly to irrelevant constructs (Appendix B). By using the new Hetero-Trait Mono-Trait Ratio (HTMT)
criterion of discriminant validity for variance-based SEM, Table 5 shows that the discriminant validity is also confirmed as all
HTMT ratio is below 0.90 (Henseler et al., 2015). The confidence interval for the HTMT inference test (Appendix C) shows that

Table 3
Convergent validity and construct reliability.

AT
BI
PA
PC
PMR
PR
SS
TW
VCD
VI

AVE

Composite reliability (CR)

R2

Cronbachs alpha

0.9323
0.9346
0.7646
0.7582
0.8033
0.7850
0.8833
0.9341
0.8225
0.8307

0.9857
0.9772
0.9069
0.9036
0.9662
0.9359
0.9680
0.9770
0.9653
0.9515

0.4185
0.6596
0.0000
0.0000
0.6838
0.0000
0.0000
0.3698
0.0000
0.6470

0.9819
0.9650
0.8461
0.8415
0.9592
0.9088
0.9558
0.9647
0.9568
0.9319

Note: PR = perceived relatedness, PA = perceived autonomy, PC = perceived competence, PMR = perceived media richness, VCD = VLE content design,
VI = VLE interactivity, SS = school support, AT = attitude toward knowledge sharing, TW = trust in website, BI = behavioral intention.

Table 4
Discriminant validity: Fornell-Larckers criterion.
AT

BI

PA

PC

PMR

PR

SS

TW

AT
BI
PA
PC
PMR
PR
SS
TW
VCD
VI

0.966
0.532
0.483
0.425
0.436
0.647
0.600
0.549
0.441
0.364

0.967
0.683
0.670
0.675
0.430
0.676
0.679
0.686
0.636

0.874
0.766
0.736
0.412
0.587
0.629
0.744
0.692

0.871
0.736
0.389
0.552
0.608
0.720
0.708

0.896
0.377
0.578
0.636
0.827
0.804

0.886
0.499
0.441
0.436
0.347

0.940
0.587
0.599
0.521

0.966
0.628
0.605

FLR

0.449

0.482

0.647

0.774

0.851

0.533

0.517

0.494

VCD

VI

AVE

CR

MSV

ASV

0.907
0.787

0.911

0.932
0.935
0.765
0.758
0.803
0.785
0.883
0.934
0.823
0.831

0.986
0.977
0.907
0.904
0.966
0.936
0.968
0.977
0.965
0.952

0.418
0.471
0.587
0.587
0.684
0.418
0.457
0.461
0.684
0.647

0.255
0.404
0.419
0.400
0.438
0.202
0.336
0.359
0.442
0.393

0.831

0.779

Note: Diagonal element shows the square root of the AVE; PR = perceived relatedness, PA = perceived autonomy, PC = perceived competence, PMR = perceived media richness, VCD = VLE content design, VI = VLE interactivity, SS = school support, AT = attitude toward knowledge sharing, TW = trust in website,
BI = behavioral intention; FLR = Fornell-Larckers ratio.

Table 5
Discriminant validity: Hetero-Trait Mono-Trait Ratio (HTMT) criterion.

AT
BI
PA
PC
PMR
PR
SS
TW
VCD
VI

AT

BI

PA

PC

PMR

PR

SS

TW

VCD

0.560
0.499
0.510
0.462
0.706
0.555
0.527
0.493
0.388

0.705
0.702
0.690
0.511
0.615
0.674
0.673
0.672

0.898
0.799
0.492
0.552
0.617
0.813
0.755

0.767
0.493
0.517
0.595
0.751
0.733

0.439
0.540
0.611
0.816
0.833

0.525
0.489
0.477
0.393

0.515
0.565
0.494

0.598
0.597

0.805

VI

Note: PR = perceived relatedness, PA = perceived autonomy, PC = perceived competence, PMR = perceived media richness, VCD = VLE content design,
VI = VLE interactivity, SS = school support, AT = attitude toward knowledge sharing, TW = trust in website, BI = behavioral intention.

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Self Determination Theory

0.647***

Perceived
Relatedness

Attitude toward
Knowledge
Sharing

R2 = 0.4185

0.075*

-0.026 (ns)

Perceived
Autonomy

R2 = 0.6596
0.107**
VLE
Behavioral Intention

0.145***

Perceived
Competency

0.608***

0.214***

Trust in
Website

R2 = 0.3698
0.254***
0.079*

School Support

0.128*

-0.013 (ns)

-0.028 (ns)

0.033*

Channel Expansion Theory

Perceived Media
Richness

0.804***

R2 = 0.6838

0.827***

R2 = 0.6470
VLE
Interactivity

VLE Content
Design

VLE Related Constructs

Specialization

Teaching
Experience

Education
Level

Control Variables

Fig. 6. PLS SEM path analysis. Note: Dotted line represent insignificant path, ns = not significant; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01;

***

p < 0.001.

there are no confidence intervals which contain the value 1 implying that all constructs are empirically distinct (Henseler
et al., 2015). Unidimensionality was also validated as all items load strongly and significantly to their respective constructs
(Appendix D). Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) of less than 0.08 is considered as a good model fit criterion
(Hair et al., 2014; Hu and Bentler, 1998). The SRMR for composite model in this study is 0.033.
7.3.2. Structural model
We then examined the structural model with bootstrapping technique in SmartPLS using 5000 samples with no sign
changes at a two-tailed 0.05 significance level. The model is capable of explaining 65.96% of the variance in BI, 68.38% in
PMR, 64.70% in VI, 41.85% in AT and 36.98% in TW. Fig. 6 shows the PLS path coefficients significance and the R2 of the
endogenous variables. All R2 exceeded 10% implying adequate explanatory power. The model also shows education level
is the only control variable that has significant confounding effect on BI.
7.3.3. Hypothesis testing
The significance of the causal relationships is evaluated based on the T-statistics of 1.960 (p < 0.05), 2.56 (p < 0.01) and
3.29 (p < 0.001). Table 6 illustrates the beta coefficient together with the T-statistics. The results showed that 65.96% of
the variance in BI is explained with the strongest predictor being SS (b = 0.254, t = 7.507) followed by TW (b = 0.214,
t = 6.789), PC (b = 0.145, t = 3.981), VCD (b = 0.128, t = 2.922), PA (b = 0.107, t = 2.819), PMR (b = 0.079, t = 2.106), AT
(b = 0.075, t = 2.410) and the control variable of ED (b = 0.033, t = 1.971). Hence, hypothesis H1c, H2, H3a, H3c, H4, H5a,
H6a and H9 are supported. In contrary, PR (b =
0.026, t = 1.299), SPL (b =
0.013, t = 0.990) and TEX (b =
0.028,
t = 1.704) are not supported. Therefore, H1b, H7 and H8 are not supported. Furthermore, 41.85% of variance in AT is
accounted for by PR (b = 0.647, t = 27.679), 36.98% of variance in TW is explained by PC (b = 0.608, t = 23.406), 64.70% variance in VI is predicted by PMR (b = 0.804, t = 56.720) while 68.38% of variance in PMR is accounted for by VCD (b = 0.827,
t = 68.817). Thus, hypothesis H1a, H3b, H5b and H6b are supported.
7.3.4. Mediating effects
The mediating effects PC and VCD were assessed using Baron and Kennys (1986) technique as well as Sobels test for significant mediation effect (Table 7). The mediator of PR was ignored as the relationship of PR ? BI is insignificant. We also

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T.-S. Hew, Sharifah Latifah Syed Abdul Kadir / Telematics and Informatics 33 (2016) 9901013
Table 6
Path coefficients.
Hypothesis

PLS path

Original
sample (O)

Sample
mean (M)

Standard
deviation (STDEV)

Standard
error (STERR)

T statistics
(|O/STERR|)

p Values
(two-tailed)

Remark

H1a
H1b
H1c
H2
H3a
H3b
H3c
H4
H5a
H5b
H6a
H6b
H7
H8
H9

PR ? AT
PR ? BI
AT ? BI
PA ? BI
PC ? BI
PC ? TW
TW ? BI
SS ? BI
PMR ? BI
PMR ? VI
VCD ? BI
VCD ? PMR
SPL ? BI
TEX ? BI
ED ? BI

0.6469

0.0260
0.0748
0.1065
0.1451
0.6081
0.2140
0.2542
0.0785
0.8043
0.1275
0.8269

0.0129

0.0282
0.0330

0.6475

0.0295
0.0746
0.1072
0.1486
0.6087
0.2123
0.2585
0.0790
0.8046
0.1218
0.8271

0.0183

0.0278
0.0336

0.0234
0.0200
0.0310
0.0378
0.0365
0.0260
0.0315
0.0339
0.0373
0.0142
0.0437
0.0120
0.0131
0.0165
0.0168

0.0234
0.0200
0.0310
0.0378
0.0365
0.0260
0.0315
0.0339
0.0373
0.0142
0.0437
0.0120
0.0131
0.0165
0.0168

27.6789
1.2985
2.4097
2.8193
3.9812
23.4056
6.7855
7.5069
2.1056
56.7202
2.9218
68.8168
0.9901
1.7037
1.9710

0.000
0.194
0.016
0.005
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.035
0.000
0.004
0.000
0.322
0.088
0.049

Supported
Not Supported
Supported
Supported
Supported
Supported
Supported
Supported
Supported
Supported
Supported
Supported
Not Supported
Not Supported
Supported

Note: *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001; PR = perceived relatedness, PA = perceived autonomy, PC = perceived competence, PMR = perceived media richness,
VCD = VLE content design, VI = VLE interactivity, SS = school support, AT = attitude toward knowledge sharing, TW = trust in website, BI = behavioral
intention; SPL = specialization; TEX = teaching experience; ED = education level.

Table 7
Baron and Kennys mediation test.
Non mediated model
Behavioral Intention

Mediated model (trust in website as mediator)

Behavioral Intention

Mediation effect

Perceived competency

0.6696

0.4072

Partial mediation

VCD content design

Non mediated model

Behavioral intention
0.6863

Mediated model (perceived media richness as mediator)

Behavioral intention
0.4022

Partial mediation

Note:

***

p < 0.001.

Table 8
Sobels test for significance of mediation.
Variables IV-M-DV

SEM path

Path
coefficient

Standard
error

Sobels test
statistics (T-value)

p-Value
(two-tailed)

Mediation
effect

VAF (%)

PC-TW-BI

PC-TW
TW-BI
PC-BI

0.6081a
0.2140b
0:1451c0

0.0260
0.0315
0.0365

6.5240

0.0000

Supported

47.3

VCD-PMR-BI

VCD-PMR
PMR-BI
VCD-BI

0.8269a
0.0785b
0:1275c0

0.0120
0.0373
0.0437

2.1036

0.0354

Supported

33.7

TW o
= trust in website;
Note: *p < 0.05; ***p < 0.001; IV = independent variable; M = mediator variable; DV = dependent variable; PC = perceived competency;
n
ab
VCD = VLE content design; PMR = perceived media richness; BI = behavioral intention; VAF = variance accounted for VAF abc
; Source: http://
0
www.danielsoper.com/statcalc3/calc.aspx?id=31.

calculated the variance accounted for (VAF) of the mediators (Table 8). The result indicated that there are significant partial
mediation effects of TW and PMR. Table 9 illustrates in detail the direct, indirect and total effects of mediators of PC and VCD
toward BI.

7.3.5. Predictive power and effect sizes

Predictive power and effect size were assessed using blindfolding with omission distance of 9. Cohen (2013) opined that
the Q2 of 0.02, 0.15 and 0.35 denote small, medium or large predictive relevance while the effect size f2 and q2 are evaluated
as 0.02 for small, 0.15 for medium and 0.35 for large. Table 10 shows that all endogenous variables have very high predictive
relevance power.
Effect size was obtained using blindfolding with omission distance of 9 units. Since single predictor will lead to total effect
size, the effect size f2 and q2 were not calculated. Table 11 indicates that effect sizes for all the predictors of BI which are

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Table 9
Total, direct and indirect effects.
Variables IV-M-DV

Direct effect

Indirect effect

Total effect

T-statistics

p Values (two-tailed)

PC-TW-BI
VCD-PMR-BI

0.1451
0.1275

0.1302
0.0650

0.2753
0.1925

6.9946
5.4717

0.000
0.000

Note: ***p < 0.001; PC = perceived competency; TW = trust in website; VCD = VLE content design; PMR = perceived media richness; BI = behavioral Intention.

Table 10
Predictive relevance of endogenous variables.
Endogenous variable

R2

Q2 (Stone-Geissers)

AT
TW
PMR
VI
BI

0.4185
0.3698
0.6838
0.6470
0.6596

0.8790
0.3444
0.5469
0.5349
0.6149

Note: AT = attitude toward knowledge sharing, TW = trust in website, PMR = perceived media
richness, VI = VLE interactivity, BI = behavioral intention.

Table 11
Effect size.
Predictor variable

Dependent variable

Path coefficient

f2

q2

PR
PC
VCD
PMR
AT
PR
PA
PC
TW
SS
PMR
VCD
SPL
TEX
ED

AT
TW
PMR
VI
BI

0.6469
0.6081
0.8269
0.8043
0.0748

0.0260
0.1065
0.1451
0.2140
0.2542
0.0785
0.1275

0.0129

0.0282
0.0336

NA
NA
NA
NA
0.0073
0.0012
0.0103
0.0209
0.0608
0.0873
0.0047
0.0123
0.0006
0.0021
0.0029

NA
NA
NA
NA
0.0151
0.0008
0.0080
0.0166
0.0499
0.0730
0.0039
0.0096
0.0005
0.0021
0.0031

Note: *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001; NA = not applicable to single predictor; PR = perceived relatedness, PA = perceived autonomy, PC = perceived competence, PMR = perceived media richness, VCD = VLE content design, VI = VLE interactivity, SS = school support, AT = attitude toward knowledge sharing,
TW = trust in website, BI = behavioral intention; SPL = specialization; TEX = teaching experience; ED = education level.

corresponding to the order of importance based on the strength of the beta coefficients of the path analysis in Section 7.3.3 of
hypothesis testing.

8. Discussion
This research investigated the roles of SDT and CET in predicting the BI to use VLE with 65.96% variance explained. In integrated SDTCET research model which is enhanced with the inclusion of the VLE related constructs of VCD and VI as well as
AT, TW and SS has been statistically corroborated and empirically validated. The results have revealed several interesting
findings. First of all, the direct effects of PA and PC were empirically validated for the first time. This has provided an evidence
to support the role of SDT in affecting teachers motivation from the context of cloud-based VLE. It showed that teachers
intention to use the VLE is stronger in an autonomy-supportive surrounding and when they have fulfilled their needs for
competency. Secondly, PC also has direct effect on TW which directly influences BI. This showed that teachers attitude
toward knowledge sharing is greatly influenced by their need for competence and on the same time their motivation to
use the VLE is dependent on their knowledge sharing attitude. This further theorizing that when teachers are able to fulfill
their needs for competency in operating the cloud-based VLE, they will have higher tendency and propensity in sharing their
knowledge with their colleagues. At the same time, teachers will gain higher motivation to use the VLE for classroom instructional. Furthermore, the direct effect of PC on BI also further advances the findings of indirect effect by Sreb et al. (2009)
and Roca and Gagn (2008). This has provided new evidence and support for the new direct relationship between PC and BI
especially from the context of cloud-based VLE.

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1005

More interestingly, although PR was found to have no significant influence on BI, it has significant influence on AT which
directly affects BI. This further supports the theory that when teachers are able to fulfill their needs for relatedness, it may
motivate them to share their knowledge with their colleagues. This is consistent with Shen et al. (2010) however the finding
has provided new evidence and support from the context of cloud-based VLE rather than the existing virtual community
context. It shows that the closer the relatedness of teachers with their colleagues, the stronger the propensity for them to
engage themselves in knowledge sharing activities.
The non significance of the PR-BI association may be due to the self-independence propensity of the teachers in deciding
whether to use the Frog VLE. The feeling of getting connected with others is not imperative but more importantly the feeling
of being competent and having autonomy in using the Frog VLE means more for them in their decision making processes. The
study also showed that SS significantly influence BI. This indicates that school administrators support is a key driver for
teachers motivation and intention to use the VLE which is consistent with Huang et al. (2009). However, the finding has offer
new evidence and support from cloud-based VLE rather than the blog article recommendation context. It shows that the
more supportive the schools, the higher the tendency for teachers to use the VLE.
The direct effects of TW, AT and SS on BI were validated for the first time. These new findings have provided imperative
evidences and supports that teachers decision and intention to use VLE depends a lot on their perceptions on trust-inwebsite, knowledge sharing attitude and support from their superiors. When teachers have trust in the Frog VLE website,
they will feel more secure to share their knowledge with their colleagues. This may create conducive environment for establishment of a learning organization with the strong supports from the school authorities.
From the CET perspective, PMR was found to have significant impact on BI and VI while being directly influenced by VCD.
The VCDPMR is a newly established relationship. This further advances the work by Saeed et al. (2008, 2010) who found
indirect effect of PMR on BI in blog/podcast and second life context. It also extends the work by Balaji and Chakrabarti
(2010) who found indirect effects of PMR on VI from the context of online discussion forum. In addition, the study also
advances the findings by Lee et al. (2009) and Hong et al. (2002) who validated indirect effect of VCD on BI in the context
of digital libraries. These findings showed that when teachers are able to perceive the media richness of the VLE, it may motivate them to use it in the classroom instruction and on the same time drive them to interact more with the VLE system. However, their media richness perception depends on their perception of the content design. Thus, it is important to ensure that
the content design can meet the teachers needs.
In terms of mediating effects, it was found that the relationship of PC-BI is partially mediated by TW whereas PMR partially mediates the VCD-BI relationship. These findings have provided evidence and support on the mediating roles of TW
and PMR. The study showed that when teachers perception of trust-in-website increases, it may reduce the effect of perceived competence on behavioral intention. Similarly, when teachers perception on media richness increases, it may also
reduce the impact of VCD on intention to use the VLE. Previously there have been no studies on the mediation effects of these
two mediators. Interestingly, we found no mediation effect of AT on the association between PR and BI. This indicates that
the influence of perceived relatedness is not affected by teachers attitude toward knowledge sharing. As long as the needs
for relatedness get stronger, teachers intention will be stronger too. In terms of control variables, only ED contributes to significant influence on BI. SPL and TEX do not have any confounding effects on BI. These may be due to the sufficient training
and exposure given by the Ministry of Education through FrogAsia. Therefore, irrespective of the specialization and teaching
experience of the teachers, there are no differences in the intention to use the VLE system among these teachers.

9. Theoretical implications
The research has made a number of significant contributions. First of all, the newly developed SDTCET integrated model
may contribute to the IS adoption literature in the sense that this is the first time ever direct effects of SDT and CET constructs were empirically validated. This advances the IS adoption literature as very less attention has been given to the role
of SDT and CET toward BI. Previously, much attention has been given to extrinsic motivation drivers such as TPB, TAM and
UTAUT. In this study, intrinsic motivational drivers from SDT were found to be strong predictors of BI. Previous studies have
main focused on investigating VLE from the learners or students perspective. Perhaps, this study may be the first to focus on
the perspective of teachers and from the context of cloud-based VLE.
Secondly, unlike previous studies of grid-based VLE, this study has theoretically contributed to the extant literature by
examining the effects of the unique VLE task-related constructs of content design and interactivity. The inclusion of these
VLE related constructs may provide more comprehensive and holistic theoretical understandings on how specific taskrelated may influence teachers intention to use the cloud-based VLE. This has made the model more specific and relevant
to the context of the study in comparison to the existing TAM or UTAUT models.
Thirdly, several other new relationships were also established for the first time. These include the TW, AT, SS, PMR, VCD
and ED on BI as well as the PR-AT and PC-TW connections. These findings provide support for theorizing that when teachers
possess higher level of education, trust-in-website, willingness to share their knowledge and perceptions about the media
richness and content design of the VLE with the support from school administrators, their intention to use the VLE will also
be higher. The validations of these new links may further extend the extent of current IS literature. Thirdly, the study also
theoretically advances the VLE literature in validating the partial mediating effects of AT on PC-BI and PMR on the VCD-BI
relationships. The partial mediations indicate that PC and PMR by themselves are able to directly influence BI. Besides that,

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T.-S. Hew, Sharifah Latifah Syed Abdul Kadir / Telematics and Informatics 33 (2016) 9901013

we also found no significant effects of PR, SPL and TEX on BI. These relationships have not been investigated in prior studies.
Next, with the introduction of the AT and TW constructs, the study has further enhanced the research model for the context
of the cloud-based VLE as the findings may provide new theories on the influences of teachers knowledge sharing attitude
and trust-in-website on their behavioral intention. This has further extended the existing VLE related body of knowledge.
Last but not least, the research model is able to predict BI, PMR, VI, AT and TW with 65.96%, 68.38%, 64.70%, 41.85% and
36.98% variance explained while validating the research model from the new context of a cloud-based VLE for the first time
using 1064 respondents randomly selected from 351 Frog champion schools across the country in comparison to the previous grid computing-based VLE related studies that mostly engaged convenience sampling. Therefore, the theoretical findings
from this study are able to provide a better generalization.
10. Practical implications
There are several important practical implications drawn from the research findings. First of all, MoE and FrogAsia should
put in more attention in encouraging connectedness and knowledge sharing among teachers. This may be done by having
more platform of interaction among teachers through teamwork activities and collaborations. More gatherings in the forms
of seminar, conference, workshop and in-house training can be conducted for teachers to build new connections especially in
using the Frog VLE. More promotion should be given in encouraging teachers to use the Community and Forum applications
so that teachers will be able to sharing the expertise, skills and knowledge. Secondly, more autonomy should also be given to
teachers so that they will have more freedom in using the VLE system. For example, teachers will be provided with Dongles
to access the Frog VLE from their homes or while traveling. This will allow them to build, upload and sharing instructional
resources anytime anywhere in the cloud. Not less important is the teachers competencies in using the VLE. More hand-on
trainings should be provided from time to time to update and refresh the skills and competencies required in the VLE. However, without adequate security and privacy protection in the VLE platform, teachers may distance themselves from using
the VLE. Hence, as the provider of the VLE, FrogAsia should always maintain the highest level of security and privacy protection in the VLE platform in order to build trust among teachers. It is only with trust in the hearts of the teachers that will
eventually lead to their intention to use the VLE.
Secondly, from the perspective of school administrators, strong support should be given to teachers in encouraging them
to use the platform. This may be done by recognizing the efforts of teachers who have use the VLE effectively and frequently.
Prizes or certificates may be given to these teachers or their success stories can be highlighted in the Frog VLE website and
school bulletin boards. Besides that, headmasters and principal may also consider the frequency of usage as one of the criteria of annual appraisal.
Thirdly, FrogAsia should ensure that the VLE platform is always upgraded with media-rich functionalities. Whenever
there is breakthrough of new media technology, the latest development should be incorporated into the VLE. For example,
more media-rich apps can be provided in the FrogStore for teachers to download into their notebooks, smart-phones, tablets
or other upcoming mobile gadgets. In line with the media richness of the VLE, the content design of the VLE should also be
enhanced and enriched from time to time. This would enable teachers to save time and energy in preparing their lessons.
However, without interactivities from the teachers, a rich VLE content will be meaningless. Therefore, efforts should be
given in promoting the degree of interactivity among the teachers. This can be achieved by giving rewards in terms of recognition to teachers who interact most with the VLE system. In line with these, FrogAsia may come up with apps in the platform that measure the frequency of use by teachers and create a hall of fame corner for the top 100 active users. This is
different from the common sense explanation that could be suggested without undertaking research. Beside that, other
rewards such as the yes credit (monetary), data rewards (MB storage) or frog credits (reward points) and etc can also be
given out.
Surprisingly and contrary to the expectations of current paradigm, perceived relatedness does not have significant influence on BI. Hence, we proposed that no new measures and actions are needed to promote teachers perception of relatedness. MoE and FrogAsia may use the existing measures to maintain the level of perceived relatedness among teachers.
Equally unexpected are the non-significant effects of teachers specialization and teaching experience on BI. Therefore,
MoE and FrogAsia need not consider these factors in their policy making and R&D processes. Hence a one size for all strategy
may be used for teachers with different specializations and teaching experiences in order to increase their behavioral intention to use the cloud-based Frog VLE.
Last but not the least, since education level is a factor that influences BI, more encouragements should be given to nongraduate teachers. For example, the number of scholarship recipients can be further increased to allow more non graduate
teachers to further their study to degree, master or Ph.D. level. Alternatively, more of them should be allowed to take fullpaid, half-paid or unpaid study leaves to upgrade themselves.
11. Limitations and future studies
The study is confined to the Malaysia geographical region. Thus the findings may not be pertinent to other geographical
regions. Therefore, future studies may be conducted in other geographical regions. Secondly, even though the research model
is capable of explaining 65.96% of the variance in BI, there may be other factors that can be included in the upcoming studies.

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T.-S. Hew, Sharifah Latifah Syed Abdul Kadir / Telematics and Informatics 33 (2016) 9901013

Thirdly, a longitudinal study may be done to study the effect of time toward the intention to use the VLE. It will be also interesting to examine the instructional effectiveness of the cloud-based VLE in future studies. Lastly, the effects of gender, age
and other demographic variables may be taken as moderators in upcoming studies to investigate whether the strengths of
the relationships are affected by these moderators.
12. Conclusions
This research has investigated the roles of SDT and CET from the context of the cloud-based Frog VLE in a nation-wide
survey. The findings have contributed significantly to the IS literature generally and VLE literature specifically. More importantly, scholars and practitioners will find this study useful in understanding the behavioral intention of teachers to use
cloud-based VLE which is different from the conventional grid-computing based or online VLE platform. In fact, to further
advance the literature, we have done a study on the instructional effectiveness of the VLE and will report the findings in
another separate paper.
Acknowledgements
This research is funded by the University of Malaya under research grant number PG037-2014B with the project entitled
Understanding the virtual learning environment. Thanks to the Educational Research and Planning Division, Malaysian
Ministry of Education and State Education Departments for granting the permissions to conduct this research.
Appendix A. List of items and their sources

Construct and definition

Items

Source

Perceived relatedness (PR)

The degree of the desire to feel connected to others

PR1: I really like the people I work with

PR2: I get along with people at work
PR3_R: I pretty much keep to myself when I am at
work
PR4: I consider the people I work with to be my
friends
PR5: People at work care about me
PR6_R: There are not many people at work whom I
am close to
PR7_R: The people I work with do not seem to like
me much
PR8: People at work are pretty friendly toward me

Sreb
et al.
(2009)

Perceived autonomy (PA)

PA1: I feel like I can make a lot of inputs in deciding

how I use VLE in my teaching profession
PA2_R: I feel pressured at using VLE in my teaching
profession
PA3: I am free to express my ideas and opinions on
using VLE in my teaching profession
PA4_R: When I am using VLE, I have to do what I am
told
PA5: My feelings toward VLE are taken into
consideration at work
PA6: I feel like I can pretty much use VLE as I want
to at work
PA7_R: There is not much opportunity for me to
decide for myself how to use VLE in my teaching
profession

Sreb
et al.
(2009)

PC1_R: I do not feel very competent when I use VLE

in my teaching profession
PC2: The other colleagues tell me I am good at using
VLE in my teaching profession
PC3: I have been able to learn interesting new skills

Sreb
et al.
(2009)

The degree of the desire to self-initiate and selfregulate own behavior

Perceived competence (PC)

The degree of the desire to feel effective in attaining
valued outcomes

(continued on next page)

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T.-S. Hew, Sharifah Latifah Syed Abdul Kadir / Telematics and Informatics 33 (2016) 9901013

Appendix A (continued)

Construct and definition

Items

Source

in VLE through my profession

PC4: Most days I feel a sense of accomplishment
from working with VLE
PC5_R: As a teacher I do not get much of a chance to
show how capable I am in VLE
PC6_R: When I am using VLE I often do not feel very
capable
Perceived media richness (PMR)
The degree to which a teacher believes that VLE is
capable of carrying a wide variety of media based
on the criteria of capacity in immediate feedback,
personal focus, multiple cues and language
variety

PMR1: The VLE features allow me to give and

receive timely feedback
PMR2: The VLE features allow me to tailor my
teaching to my own personal requirements

Fernandez
et al.
(2013)

PMR3: The VLE features allow me to communicate a

variety of different cues (such as emotional tone,
attitude, or formality) in my teaching
PMR4: The VLE features allow me to use a rich and
varied language in my teaching
PMR5: I could easily explain concepts using the VLE
features
PMR6: The VLE features help me to communicate
quickly
PMR7: The VLE features help me to better
understand others
VLE content design (VCD)
The degree to which learning contents are designed
and developed to fit students needs

VLE interactivity (VI)

The degree of interaction that a teacher perceives as

having with the VLE system, and the extent to
which the VLE system is perceived to be
responsive to his/her needs

VCD1: The level of difficulty of the learning contents

is appropriate
VCD2: The content of assignments is easy to
understand
VCD3: The amount of learning contents is
appropriate
VCD4: The delivery schedule of learning contents is
flexible
VCD5: VLE provides individualized learning
management
VCD6: VLE provides a variety of learning methods

Lee et al.
(2009)

VI1: Interacting with VLE is like having a

conversation with a sociable, knowledgeable and
warm representative from my school
VI2: I feel as if VLE talked back to me while I was
navigating the VLE

Chen et al.
(2007)

VI3: I perceive the VLE to be sensitive to my needs

for information
VI4: My interaction level with the VLE was high
VI5: I dont interact with the VLE much
School support (SS)
The degree to which a teacher believes that his/her
school is committed to successful VLE
implementation and use

SS1: My school is committed to a vision of using VLE

in teaching
SS2: My school is committed to supporting my
efforts in using VLE for teaching
SS3: The school strongly encourages the use of VLE
for teaching

Lai and
Chen
(2011)

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T.-S. Hew, Sharifah Latifah Syed Abdul Kadir / Telematics and Informatics 33 (2016) 9901013
Appendix A (continued)

Construct and definition

Items

Source

SS4: My school will recognize my efforts in using

VLE for teaching
Attitude toward knowledge sharing (AT)
The degree of a teacher having positive feelings
about sharing ideas and resources with those
with whom they have developed a close
relationship

AT1: Sharing of my knowledge with other teachers

is always good
AT2: Sharing of my knowledge with other teachers
is always beneficial

Chow and
Chan
(2008)

AT3: Sharing of my knowledge with other teachers

is always an enjoyable experience
AT4: Sharing of my knowledge with other teachers
is always valuable to me
AT5: Sharing of my knowledge with other teachers
is always a wise move
Trust in website (TW)
The degree of the belief resulting from the reliability
and reliance of the VLE website

TW1: I think the VLE website is secure

TW2: I think the VLE website is reliable

Hsu et al.
(2014)

TW3: I think the VLE website is trustworthy

Behavioral Intention (BI)
The degree to which a teacher has formulated
conscious plans to perform or not perform some
specified future behavior

BI1: I intend to use VLE in the coming months

BI2: I predict I would use VLE in the future

Venkatesh
et al.
(2003)

BI3: I plan to use VLE in the future

Appendix B. Cross loadings

AT1
AT2
AT3
AT4
AT5
BI1
BI2
BI3
PA1
PA3
PA6
PC2
PC3
PC4
PMR1
PMR2
PMR3
PMR4
PMR5
PMR6
PMR7
PR2

AT

BI

PA

PC

PMR

PR

SS

TW

VCD

VI

0.9591
0.9718
0.9632
0.9731
0.9606
0.5073
0.5185
0.5182
0.4461
0.4208
0.4009
0.2584
0.4572
0.3670
0.3950
0.4089
0.3617
0.4318
0.4124
0.4068
0.3112
0.6088

0.4997
0.5144
0.5264
0.5151
0.5142
0.9538
0.9775
0.9689
0.5768
0.6053
0.6083
0.4477
0.6426
0.6297
0.6048
0.6534
0.5789
0.6147
0.6200
0.6193
0.5399
0.4582

0.4555
0.4713
0.4854
0.4604
0.4580
0.6694
0.6591
0.6519
0.8713
0.8834
0.8684
0.5878
0.7019
0.7010
0.6622
0.7049
0.6477
0.6640
0.6946
0.6612
0.5779
0.4441

0.3896
0.3999
0.4447
0.4137
0.4016
0.6544
0.6510
0.6363
0.6506
0.6471
0.7109
0.7981
0.8978
0.9119
0.6569
0.7008
0.6323
0.6549
0.6812
0.6698
0.6199
0.4277

0.4087
0.4198
0.4484
0.4182
0.4073
0.6551
0.6516
0.6518
0.6109
0.6782
0.6405
0.5327
0.6908
0.6801
0.8950
0.9007
0.8979
0.8906
0.9035
0.9117
0.8740
0.4125

0.6159
0.6308
0.6299
0.6347
0.6115
0.3961
0.4233
0.4262
0.3860
0.3541
0.3408
0.2154
0.4256
0.3446
0.3488
0.3583
0.3064
0.3728
0.3549
0.3430
0.2762
0.8726

0.5697
0.5844
0.5756
0.5945
0.5697
0.6563
0.6564
0.6471
0.5108
0.5397
0.4884
0.3572
0.5632
0.4942
0.5393
0.5424
0.4853
0.5326
0.5363
0.5256
0.4621
0.4910

0.5240
0.5414
0.5475
0.5168
0.5190
0.6479
0.6657
0.6557
0.5319
0.5530
0.5635
0.4040
0.5830
0.5744
0.5710
0.5709
0.5707
0.5806
0.5740
0.5758
0.5475
0.4514

0.4096
0.4229
0.4535
0.4257
0.4153
0.6690
0.6628
0.6576
0.6382
0.6713
0.6420
0.5150
0.6841
0.6601
0.7522
0.7777
0.7160
0.7396
0.7536
0.7586
0.6852
0.4658

0.3275
0.3465
0.3851
0.3489
0.3487
0.6244
0.6166
0.6029
0.5716
0.6276
0.6140
0.5231
0.6513
0.6596
0.7370
0.7208
0.7344
0.6758
0.7112
0.7556
0.7105
0.3965

(continued on next page)

1010

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Appendix B (continued)

PR4
PR5
PR8
SS1
SS2
SS3
SS4
TW1
TW2
TW3
VCD1
VCD2
VCD3
VCD4
VCD5
VCD6
VI1
VI2
VI3
VI4

AT

BI

PA

PC

PMR

PR

SS

TW

VCD

VI

0.6071
0.5341
0.5315
0.5490
0.5681
0.5856
0.5503
0.5288
0.5252
0.5372
0.3649
0.3776
0.3853
0.3735
0.4623
0.4348
0.3770
0.3112
0.3421
0.2942

0.3795
0.3390
0.3298
0.6302
0.6495
0.6374
0.6227
0.6275
0.6692
0.6710
0.5983
0.6277
0.6348
0.6005
0.6353
0.6356
0.6269
0.5490
0.5876
0.5519

0.3613
0.3427
0.2944
0.5343
0.5598
0.5357
0.5758
0.5904
0.6169
0.6151
0.6650
0.6810
0.6836
0.6483
0.6898
0.6812
0.6486
0.5905
0.6497
0.6313

0.3298
0.3066
0.3003
0.5110
0.5400
0.5085
0.5161
0.5747
0.5921
0.5960
0.6326
0.6595
0.6790
0.6451
0.6471
0.6528
0.6512
0.6199
0.6607
0.6484

0.3126
0.3268
0.2705
0.5273
0.5640
0.5252
0.5571
0.5853
0.6352
0.6228
0.7461
0.7611
0.7729
0.7410
0.7196
0.7580
0.7451
0.7114
0.7593
0.7144

0.9251
0.8764
0.8688
0.4755
0.4845
0.4892
0.4264
0.4139
0.4236
0.4398
0.3611
0.3689
0.3791
0.3811
0.4443
0.4376
0.3561
0.3066
0.3423
0.2564

0.4720
0.4081
0.3844
0.9510
0.9521
0.9491
0.9063
0.5439
0.5791
0.5773
0.5237
0.5610
0.5500
0.5112
0.5585
0.5550
0.5088
0.4363
0.4996
0.4533

0.3918
0.3600
0.3460
0.5466
0.5495
0.5521
0.5577
0.9532
0.9726
0.9735
0.5660
0.5667
0.5905
0.5390
0.5594
0.5920
0.5787
0.5342
0.5772
0.5133

0.3777
0.3598
0.3264
0.5573
0.5819
0.5584
0.5541
0.5756
0.6280
0.6148
0.8998
0.9222
0.9302
0.8938
0.8902
0.9046
0.7630
0.6876
0.7430
0.6702

0.2758
0.2859
0.2573
0.4857
0.5209
0.4743
0.4785
0.5458
0.6018
0.6052
0.7321
0.7276
0.7540
0.7071
0.6493
0.7084
0.9003
0.9272
0.9351
0.8822

Appendix C. Confidence intervals for HTMT inference test

BI ? AT
PA ? AT
PA ? BI
PC ? AT
PC ? BI
PC ? PA
PMR ? AT
PMR ? BI
PMR ? PA
PMR ? PC
PR ? AT
PR ? BI
PR ? PA
PR ? PC
PR ? PMR
SS ? AT
SS ? BI
SS ? PA
SS ? PC
SS ? PMR
SS ? PR
TW ? AT
TW ? BI
TW ? PA
TW ? PC

Original
sample (O)

Sample
mean (M)

Standard
deviation
(STDEV)

T statistics
(|O/STDEV|)

p Values

2.50%

97.50%

0.560
0.499
0.705
0.510
0.702
0.898
0.462
0.690
0.799
0.767
0.706
0.511
0.492
0.493
0.439
0.555
0.615
0.552
0.517
0.540
0.525
0.527
0.674
0.617
0.595

0.562
0.497
0.704
0.509
0.702
0.896
0.459
0.689
0.798
0.767
0.707
0.513
0.492
0.494
0.439
0.557
0.614
0.551
0.516
0.537
0.527
0.528
0.673
0.617
0.596

0.037
0.039
0.035
0.041
0.038
0.028
0.038
0.027
0.023
0.025
0.028
0.039
0.041
0.042
0.037
0.036
0.037
0.039
0.042
0.036
0.040
0.041
0.033
0.040
0.044

14.952
12.824
20.018
12.434
18.488
31.974
12.022
25.167
35.350
31.073
25.419
13.023
12.097
11.861
11.806
15.258
16.700
14.233
12.427
14.996
13.163
12.746
20.596
15.589
13.453

0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000

0.490
0.411
0.626
0.433
0.621
0.842
0.385
0.635
0.753
0.722
0.652
0.433
0.400
0.411
0.363
0.482
0.540
0.469
0.433
0.467
0.449
0.443
0.609
0.535
0.503

0.630
0.567
0.768
0.588
0.769
0.949
0.534
0.735
0.837
0.819
0.759
0.585
0.566
0.577
0.513
0.626
0.681
0.625
0.599
0.606
0.601
0.609
0.736
0.690
0.673

1011

T.-S. Hew, Sharifah Latifah Syed Abdul Kadir / Telematics and Informatics 33 (2016) 9901013
Appendix C (continued)

TW ? PMR
TW ? PR
TW ? SS
VCD ? AT
VCD ? BI
VCD ? PA
VCD ? PC
VCD ? PMR
VCD ? PR
VCD ? SS
VCD ? TW
VI ? AT
VI ? BI
VI ? PA
VI ? PC
VI ? PMR
VI ? PR
VI ? SS
VI ? TW
VI ? VCD

Original
sample (O)

Sample
mean (M)

Standard
deviation
(STDEV)

T statistics
(|O/STDEV|)

p Values

2.50%

97.50%

0.611
0.489
0.515
0.493
0.673
0.813
0.751
0.816
0.477
0.565
0.598
0.388
0.672
0.755
0.733
0.833
0.393
0.494
0.597
0.805

0.611
0.491
0.514
0.489
0.672
0.811
0.749
0.813
0.476
0.563
0.595
0.385
0.670
0.753
0.732
0.831
0.394
0.489
0.596
0.802

0.033
0.043
0.039
0.036
0.032
0.029
0.031
0.021
0.040
0.037
0.037
0.041
0.033
0.033
0.034
0.020
0.041
0.041
0.035
0.027

18.724
11.473
13.275
13.604
21.175
28.399
24.029
38.026
12.040
15.156
16.024
9.541
20.523
23.201
21.534
40.705
9.627
12.004
17.287
30.068

0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000

0.545
0.401
0.425
0.420
0.609
0.754
0.685
0.769
0.402
0.485
0.521
0.309
0.603
0.686
0.662
0.789
0.311
0.410
0.529
0.745

0.669
0.570
0.585
0.557
0.729
0.860
0.811
0.851
0.549
0.631
0.666
0.466
0.730
0.812
0.794
0.867
0.474
0.571
0.664
0.850

Note: PR = perceived relatedness, PA = perceived autonomy, PC = perceived competence, PMR = perceived media richness, VCD = VLE content design,
VI = VLE interactivity, SS = school support, AT = attitude toward knowledge sharing, TW = trust in website, BI = behavioral intention.

Appendix D. Unidimensionality analysis

AT1
AT
AT2
AT
AT3
AT
AT4
AT
AT5
AT
BI1
BI
BI2
BI
BI3
BI
PA1
PA
PA3
PA
PA6
PA
PC2
PC
PC3
PC
PC4
PC
PMR1
PMR
PMR2
PMR
PMR3
PMR
PMR4
PMR
PMR5
PMR
PMR6
PMR
PMR7
PMR
PR2
PR

Original sample
(O)

Sample mean
(M)

Standard deviation
(STDEV)

Standard error
(STERR)

T statistics (|O/
STERR|)

0.9591
0.9718
0.9632
0.9731
0.9606
0.9538
0.9775
0.9689
0.8713
0.8834
0.8684
0.7981
0.8978
0.9119
0.8950
0.9007
0.8979
0.8906
0.9035
0.9117
0.8740
0.8726

0.9592
0.9717
0.9632
0.9729
0.9604
0.9539
0.9777
0.9690
0.8706
0.8832
0.8684
0.7971
0.8981
0.9115
0.8942
0.8998
0.8972
0.8900
0.9028
0.9112
0.8726
0.8734

0.0071
0.0031
0.0040
0.0026
0.0052
0.0068
0.0029
0.0054
0.0138
0.0107
0.0106
0.0210
0.0074
0.0069
0.0087
0.0078
0.0082
0.0115
0.0076
0.0061
0.0107
0.0115

0.0071
0.0031
0.0040
0.0026
0.0052
0.0068
0.0029
0.0054
0.0138
0.0107
0.0106
0.0210
0.0074
0.0069
0.0087
0.0078
0.0082
0.0115
0.0076
0.0061
0.0107
0.0115

135.8859
312.1822
242.5058
372.0129
183.7536
140.4123
340.2765
180.0305
62.9479
82.3683
81.9919
38.0060
121.2815
132.0080
103.1478
114.9893
109.1851
77.2900
118.6838
150.6774
81.7355
76.1459
(continued on next page)

1012

T.-S. Hew, Sharifah Latifah Syed Abdul Kadir / Telematics and Informatics 33 (2016) 9901013

Appendix D (continued)

PR4
PR5
PR8
SS1
SS2
SS3
SS4
TW1
TW2
TW3
VCD1
VCD2
VCD3
VCD4
VCD5
VCD6
VI1
VI2
VI3
VI4

PR
PR
PR
SS
SS
SS
SS
TW
TW
TW
VCD
VCD
VCD
VCD
VCD
VCD
VI
VI
VI
VI

Original sample
(O)

Sample mean
(M)

Standard deviation
(STDEV)

Standard error
(STERR)

T statistics (|O/
STERR|)

0.9251
0.8764
0.8688
0.9510
0.9521
0.9491
0.9063
0.9532
0.9726
0.9735
0.8998
0.9222
0.9302
0.8938
0.8902
0.9046
0.9003
0.9272
0.9351
0.8822

0.9257
0.8766
0.8690
0.9512
0.9521
0.9488
0.9061
0.9532
0.9728
0.9734
0.9000
0.9215
0.9295
0.8931
0.8899
0.9047
0.9000
0.9269
0.9350
0.8820

0.0063
0.0125
0.0134
0.0044
0.0053
0.0054
0.0099
0.0076
0.0039
0.0036
0.0079
0.0081
0.0067
0.0119
0.0130
0.0081
0.0083
0.0079
0.0066
0.0094

0.0063
0.0125
0.0134
0.0044
0.0053
0.0054
0.0099
0.0076
0.0039
0.0036
0.0079
0.0081
0.0067
0.0119
0.0130
0.0081
0.0083
0.0079
0.0066
0.0094

146.0666
70.0041
64.6017
215.1947
180.3103
177.3802
91.5978
125.1029
248.2204
274.1178
113.8131
113.9101
139.6101
75.3971
68.3075
112.2875
107.9352
116.8107
140.8492
93.4067

Note: ***p < 0.001; PR = perceived relatedness, PA = perceived autonomy, PC = perceived competence, PMR = perceived media richness, VCD = VLE content
design, VI = VLE interactivity, SS = school support, AT = attitude toward knowledge sharing, TW = trust in website, BI = behavioral intention.

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