Modelling distance education students’ satisfaction and continuous use intention of students’ portal: An importance-performance map analysis

Abstract

Many higher educational institutions offering distance education provide their students with electronic portals to manage their academic information and activities, as well as obtain feedback from students to management for decision-making towards improvement. However, satisfaction with the use of students’ portals remains a challenge to distance education students especially in mandatory environments where students are obliged to use the portal. However, there is also a lack of empirical evidence on the effects of portal functionality and portal information display on the easiness of use of students’ portal and portal system performance leading to satisfaction, in the literature. Accordingly, this study aims to unravel the determinants of students’ satisfaction and their continuous use intentions of portal systems. In view of this, a quantitative approach based on an exploratory sequential mixed-method design was adopted. Questionnaires were used to collect the main data from 1409 students selected through a cluster sampling technique after an initial interview guide was used for focus group discussions. Data collected were analysed using both the descriptive and Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) techniques. Findings from the analysis revealed that portal functionality and portal information display were antecedents of portal ease of use: and portal system performance. Additionally, portal system ease of use, portal system functionality, portal system information display and portal system performance determined portal system use satisfaction. Furthermore, portal use satisfaction is a prelude to students’ continuous use intentions. Finally, the most important antecedent to student portal use satisfaction was portal system performance. These findings provide valuable insights for institutions seeking to enhance the performance of portal systems for their students. Based on the findings, recommendations were made for policy and practice towards the provision and management of student portals in distance education delivery.