Blended Learning Acceptance Scale (BLAS) in Distance Higher Education: Toward an Initial Development and Validation

Abstract

The adoption of blended mode of e-learning is dominant basically because of the affordances of the combination of both the benefits of online and face-to-face sessions. In view of this, most traditional distance education institutions have acquired Learning Management System (LMS) for online learning to support the face-to-face aspect of lesson delivery to satisfy the blended mode. This has induced research into the acceptance of blended learning from both tutors’ and students’ perspectives. However, the gap in the literature is that, most of these researches employ instruments that measure only the LMS-based online aspect or the technology of the blended mode leaving the face-to-face aspect relegated. To fill the gap, data were collected from 267 tutors based on a cross-sectional survey design with the questionnaire as the instrument. The result was a development and validation through a partial least squares structural equation modeling of a Blended Learning Acceptance Scale (BLAS) that combines both LMS-based online learning and face-to-face aspects to measure blended learning acceptance in distance higher education.