The Adoption of Blended Learning among Malaysian Academicians

This study reports the adoption of blended learning among academicians in Malaysia. Many higher learning institutions in Malaysia have implemented blended learning because of its effectiveness as a learning approach. However, studies have shown that academicians are apprehensive about teaching in blended learning. The theoretical framework for this study is based on Mezirow's Transformational Learning Theory. Five independent variables representing an individual's frame of reference are studied for their relationship with the attitude of adopting blended learning. The study employed the quantitative method approach. Data are gathered through surveys among academicians in one of the public universities in Malaysia which implemented blended learning. Findings identified that the adoption rate of blended learning is low, as reflected from the result of the study where only 13 percent of the academicians adopted the learning approach. Among the factors which influenced the adoption of blended learning are perceived usefulness of the system, learning goals, and educational technology preference. Findings from this study provided insights on the attitude towards the adoption of blended learning. Its practical contribution includes knowledge which can be incorporated into the e-learning training modules to address the problem of low adoption of blended learning. (C) 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of i-Learn Centre, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.