Factors affecting e-collaboration technology use among management students Antonio Padilla-Mele ´ndez * , Aurora Garrido-Moreno 1 , Ana Rosa Del Aguila-Obra 2 Department of Management, University of Ma ´ laga, Plaza El Ejido, s/n Ma ´ laga, Andalucı ´a 29071, Spain Received 23 April 2007; received in revised form 26 June 2007; accepted 27 June 2007 Abstract This paper describes an exploratory study of 225 management students in a medium-sized university in southern Spain. The influences of gender and previous experience as determinants of technology use were analysed. Furthermore, a mod- ified Technology Acceptance Model, using SEM, was applied to explain the influence of perceived computer self-efficacy on the intention to use Internet-based e-collaboration technologies in the learning–teaching process. This was completed with qualitative data from unstructured interviews with ten students. Our results suggest that the management student can- not be considered an advanced user of the Internet. Computer self-efficacy has a positive influence on intention to use the system. This intention is also influenced by attitude towards the system, but not directly by perceived usefulness. These and other contradictory findings are analysed in the paper. Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Applications in subject areas; Computer-mediated communication; Cooperative/collaborative learning; Country-specific de- velopments; Teaching/learning strategies 1. Introduction Technology has proved its value in higher education and in applied areas such as management (Ives & Jarvenpaa, 1996). For example, in Europe digital literacy is emerging as a new key competence required by workers and citizens in the new knowledge society (European Commission, 2005). The integration of IT- supported learning helps workers acquire the necessary skills and knowledge for their job (European Commis- sion, 2005). IT use can also improve the effectiveness of the learning process. Consequently, if the student 0360-1315/$ - see front matter Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2007.06.013 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 952137265; fax: +34 952131293. E-mail addresses: apm@uma.es (A. Padilla-Mele ´ndez), agarridom@uma.es (A. Garrido-Moreno), anarosa@uma.es (A.R. Del Aguila- Obra). URL: www.gieb.uma.es (A. Padilla-Mele ´ndez). 1 Tel.: +34 952137265; fax: +34 952131293. 2 Tel.: +34 952137264; fax: +34 952137265. Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Computers & Education 51 (2008) 609–623 www.elsevier.com/locate/compedu