Factors that Influence the Adoption of eLearning: An Empirical Study in Kuwait

ELearning has emerged as a powerful and transformative drive to meet learning and training needs and extend their traditional modes. ELearning as an organizational activity started in the developed countries, and as such, the adoption models developed in the developed countries are taken as a benchmark. The barriers to the adoption of eLearning are related to either personal issues, technical issues or organizational issues. As for the personal barriers, the most commonly cited are time management problems, language problems, and attitude towards eLearning. The technical barriers include infrastructure building and upgrading, maintaining connectivity and bandwidth, and lack of technical support. Whereas, the organizational barriers include lack of management support and commitment, lack of strategic planning and direction, and lack of incentives and credibility. Like many other countries, Kuwait has started the adoption of eLearning in the public organizations. A comparison of barriers between the Kuwaiti and developed countries experiences was carried out, and the results showed that there is a difference in the importance and intensity of these barriers between the two practices.