This study presents findings that demonstrate that frustration with information technology use is a component of the learning environment and as a construct has an impact that is almost as large as the students’ GPA on online students’ performance midway through the course. We surveyed 368 accounting students. Their responses indicate that they like technology; they believe it to be beneficial, and they expect to be able to use it effectively. However, there appears to be a stronger relationship between frustration and performance in the online students. In all cases, students who earned “A’s” reported fewer frustrating events while online students who scored lowest on the exam reported the most frustration with the software. An additional finding shows that lower scoring students believe the software is more useful than the students who scored higher on the exam.
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