The role of students’ relational identity and autotelic experience for their innovative and continuous use of e-learning

Over the last decades, using e-learning systems as an alternative format of education for traditional classroom has been growing in higher education and due to COVID-19 pandemic, this transition has been unprecedently accelerated. Although there is a large body of research on e-learning, little is known about the extent to which innovative and continuous use of e-learning systems can be influenced by students’ social and motivational factors especially their relational identity and autotelic experience. This study collected data from 400 higher education students through a survey to explore the role of students’ relational identity and autotelic experiences regarding their innovative and continuous use of e-learning systems while considering the mediating role of students’ perception of relatedness. Collected data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling method. The results showed that students' relational identity and autotelic experience significantly influence the innovative and continuous use of e-learning. The results showed that relational identity and autotelic experience positivly associatewith innovative (β = 0.190, t = 3.544; β = 0.405, t = 7.973) and continuous use of e-learning (β = 0.188, t = 3.115; β = 0.344, t = 7.459) and relatedness plays a moderating role between relational identity and continuous use (β = 0.194, t = 4.500, p = 0.000). Relatedness weakens the relationship between relational identity and innovative use of e-learning. However, it reinforces the relationship between relational identity and the continuous use of e-learning. It was found that relatedness strengthens the relationship between autotelic experience with innovative and continuous use of e-learning. The results of this study provide evidence of how students’ social and motivational factors can influence their approaches to the innovative and continuous use of e-learning systems. We discuss these results and provide agenda for future practical and professional work.