iranian’s attitude toward e-learning _ a comparison between english language learners and the mainstream

The present study relied on a modified version of tam (venkatesh & davis 2000) to clarify iranian’s attitude toward e-learning and further examine whether there is a meaningful difference between mainstream users of e-learning and english language learners in terms of their attitude. the model predicts that a system's ease of use and usefulness determine users' attitude toward the system. it further predicts that a range of social factors and socio-economic status of the users play an important role in the degrees of the system’s ease of use, and then, the image it develops for the users in the society, its impacts on the users' social relationships, and its flexibility plays an important role in degrees of the system's usefulness. depending on the attitude described based on the model, whether can be clarified if the users accepted the system or not. in case users have a negative attitude toward a system, the identified area can be manipulated to change their attitude. the study asked 54 participants (36 females and 18 males), with a mean age of 26.18 years, to state their feelings and thoughts about e-learning by answering a questionnaire. as a result of analyzing responses, it was revealed that iranian mainstream users of e-learning and english language learners do not have a statistically different attitude toward e-learning; however, english language learners find the system slightly more useful in comparison with the mainstream users. according to tam, e-learning is easy to use for most users, but the system is not highly useful for them. although iranian users of e-learning find it a useful tool to maintain their social contact, they need to be provided with more useful online classes for their academic and professional progress. also, offering more flexible time plans can make iranians more positive toward e-learning. in order to make e-learning more acceptable for its iranian users, it is suggested to design materials, tasks, assignments, and assessment procedures that are compatible with features of online learning. also, offering more flexible time schedules, different from those offered in face-to-face versions can be effective. since e-learning is an inevitable part of education in the future, measures should be taken to adapt the system to learners’ needs, expectations, and concerns to make them feel comfortable with the system and be willing to work with it. when they are positive toward the e-learning system, learning outcomes are more likely to be optimized through increased positive feelings.