The impact of ICT characteristics on students’ learning outcomes during COVID-19 lockdown period: the crucial role of techno eustress perception

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 crisis led to an unprecedented acceleration of digital learning. It pushed many institutions to abruptly switch to fully online learning modes from face-to-face learning. Prior studies show that higher IT demands can cause challenge or hindrance stressors, depending on how the digital technology characteristics are perceived by the end-user. However, there is a gap in our knowledge regarding how ICT characteristics can lead to positive stress appraisals in a remote learning environment. OBJECTIVE: This paper leverages the person-environment fit and technostress literature to examine how usefulness and reliability as demand-ability stressors of ICT tools can positively impact learning outcomes among remote learning students. Techno eustress perceptions are evaluated as a crucial mechanism for theorizing the positive impact. METHODS: We used the survey method, sampling students (N = 82) during the lockdown period to test this model. RESULTS: Our findings highlight the ICT characteristic of usefulness as salient in contributing to student learning outcomes as it promotes techno eustress. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to demonstrate a positive impact of ICT characteristics on student learning outcomes via techno eustress perceptions.