COMPARISON OF E-LEARNING ACCEPTANCE AMONG POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS IN SRI LANKA AND MALAYSIA

The purpose of this study was to compare the impact of innovation attributes on postgraduate students’ e-learning acceptance between Sri Lanka and Malaysia. The Diffusion of Innovation theory identifies five attributes of innovation namely relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialabiltity, observability which impact for the attitude and intention of using e- learning. Sri Lanka and Malaysia are the countries which have more similarities in terms of history, geography and culture. Therefore a comparison between Sri Lanka and Malaysia for the innovation attributes towards the attitude and intention of using e-learning is more relevant as to acquire the knowledge on how economic and technological development have an impact on postgraduate students preferences. A random sample of 400 was drawn from the postgraduate students in locally based universities in Sri Lanka and Malaysia. It was found that Sri Lanka and Malaysia has similar in e-learning acceptance in terms of observability and relative advantage which has a significant impact on attitude and intention of using e-learning and also complexity and trialability was the least significant factors on e-learning acceptance in both Sri Lanka and Malaysia.? This is the first attempt of comparing e-learning acceptance between Sri Lanka and Malaysia and discloses information on how Sri Lanka and Malaysia differ. The findings of this paper can be used by the higher educational institutions in Sri Lanka and Malaysia when implementing e learning solutions.