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An exploration of eLearning adoption in the educational ecosystem

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Abstract

Teaching and learning processes have not experienced major changes during the last centuries. However, eLearning platforms may transform these processes, turning the classroom from a teacher-centered and standardized space into a student-centered, customizable and highly scalable environment. These changes impact many different stakeholders such as parents, teachers, universities, software developers and textbook publishers. Therefore, to fully understand the adoption process of an innovation such as eLearning, using traditional technology adoption models that center on a single stakeholder (the end-user) may not be enough. Perspectives from multiple stakeholders must be considered. These stakeholders may come from different industries that make up an ecosystem. Hence, this study aims to explore eLearning adoption through an ecosystem perspective. In order to do so, 58 in-depth interviews were conducted with representatives from 6 different ecosystem stakeholders in the Brazilian higher education ecosystem. Using discourse analysis, the study identified 10 general constructs that simultaneously influence distinct stakeholders in the Brazilian higher education ecosystem in their intention to adopt eLearning.

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Funding

This research was supported by Grupo Globo.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Escola Superior de Propaganda & Marketing (ESPM/RJ), R. do Rosário, 90 - Centro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 20041-002, Brazil

    Marco Aurélio de Souza Rodrigues

  2. COPPEAD Graduate School of Business, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rua Pascoal Lemme, 355 - Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21941-918, Brazil

    Paula Chimenti & Antonio Roberto Ramos Nogueira

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  1. Marco Aurélio de Souza Rodrigues
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  2. Paula Chimenti
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  3. Antonio Roberto Ramos Nogueira
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Contributions

MR, PC and AN offered valuable contributions to the conception and design of the research. MR and PC were also involved in data acquisition, analysis and interpretation. MR, PC and AR revised the manuscript critically. All authors have approved the submitted version. All authors have agreed both to be personally accountable for their contributions and to ensure that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of the work are appropriately investigated, resolved and the resolution documented in the literature.

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Correspondence to Marco Aurélio de Souza Rodrigues.

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Table 3 Proposed constructs and their categories
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de Souza Rodrigues, M.A., Chimenti, P. & Nogueira, A.R.R. An exploration of eLearning adoption in the educational ecosystem. Educ Inf Technol 26, 585–615 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-020-10276-3

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