Analyzing Factors Influencing Learning Management System Adoption in Adult Continuing Education in China: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Abstract: The rapid digital transformation of higher education, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has positioned LMS as a critical infrastructure for lifelong learning and workforce development. However, adult learners in continuing education programmes face unique challenges related to self-directed learning, technological readiness, and institutional support, which remain underexplored in the existing literature. This study analysed 35 empirical articles published between 2020 and 2025, retrieved from Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and CNKI. Using a thematic synthesis approach, the review identified dominant theoretical frameworks including the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT/UTAUT2), and the Information System Success (ISS) model, as well as key constructs such as performance expectancy (identified in 28 studies), facilitating conditions (25 studies), trust (15 studies), instructor characteristics (12 studies), and social influence (20 studies). The findings reveal that although individual models explain between 46% and 73.5% of variance in behavioural intention, no unified framework systematically integrates institutional support, learner psychological attributes, and technological system quality specifically for adult continuing education contexts in China. Notably, only 4 out of 35 studies focused explicitly on non-full-time adult learners, and only 8 studies were conducted in mainland China. The results highlight a significant gap in the meaningful integration of learner-specific factors (self-directed learning, self-efficacy, trust), system factors (system quality, information quality, service quality), and contextual factors (facilitating conditions, instructor characteristics) within a single empirical SEM model. This study argues for the reconceptualisation of LMS adoption research as a context-sensitive framework that integrates adult learning principles, technology acceptance theories, and institutional support mechanisms to create more effective digital learning environments for adult continuing education in China.