Student Acceptance of Mobile Learning

Robin L. DonaldsonMay 5, 2010Prospectus Defense

Florida State UniversityCollege of Communication and Information

Mobile Learning

(Tsvetozar Georgiev, et al., 2004)

Wireless delivery of learning content through handheld device – any time & anywhere.

Introduction

Personal Use

32% use a cell phone for Internet access 19% use mobile Internet access Learning & information resources

Higher Education

Initial stages Learning & information resources Digital divide Identifying value and determinants

Problem Statement

Technology acceptance research most mature research area in IS literature.

Limited research using technology acceptance theories

Unique characteristic of mobile learning IS models may not fully address mobile

learning

Purpose

Use technology acceptance theory as a theoretical framework to examine the determinants associated with community college students’ acceptance and use of mobile learning.

Literature Review - TAM TAM & TAM2 –

Do not consider variables that may negatively impact behavior (system characteristics, training, support)

Are not able to explain as much of the variance in user behavioral intention to use and actual use as UTAUT.

Failure to acknowledge individual differences such as age and gender

TAM3 -

Lack of supporting research Non- academic participants and information systems

Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) Age and gender

Explain as much as 70% of the variance in user behavioral intention to use and actual use

Performance Expectancy▪ “the degree to which an individual believes that using the system will help

him or her to attain gains in job performance” Effort Expectancy▪ “the degree of ease associated with the use of the system”

Social Influence▪ “the degree to which an individual perceives that important others believe

he or she should use the new system” Facilitating Conditions▪ “the degree to which an individual believes that an organizational and

technical infrastructure exists to support use of the system”

Population & Participants

Population being studied

Community college in north Florida GED or Highschool degree Large percentage required to take developmental courses &

SLS 1510 Facilitating conditions Diverse ages Diverse access levels to technology

Participants Convenience sample All students enrolled in college credit courses

Additional Constructs

Self-management of learning is “the extent to which an individual feels he or she is self-disciplined and can engage in autonomous learning”

Additional Construct cont. Voluntariness of Use

“the degree to which use of the innovation is perceived as being voluntary, or of free will”

Perceived playfulness -the extent to which the individual perceives that his or her attention is focused, curious during interaction, finds the interaction intrinsically enjoyable or

interesting.

Research Design

Quantitative descriptive and comparative research design

Utilize cross-sectional survey data Mixed Method

Research Limitations General

Convenience sample Cross sectional Course and participant availability for interviews

Survey Statistical significance within the design does not imply cause-

and-effect relationships Self reported Does not allow the researcher to obtain an in-depth

understanding

Interviews Protocols and transcribing is time consuming Participants can be influenced by researcher More difficult to analyze Coding and theme development time consuming

Research Strengths General

add breadth and depth of understanding of research questions corroboration of research findings

Survey cost effective producing precise descriptions of large populations,

collection of a data from a large number of participants repeated in other research or to assess if any changes that have taken place

Interviews can probe for additional responses can provide clarity to questions observations of the respondent can be recorded gain a more in-depth understanding of participants’ survey responses

Procedure

Procedure Sequential explanatory strategy Pre-existing survey▪ Cross sectional

Interviews

Survey Instrument UTUAUT survey instrument, perceived

playfulness, self-management of learning, voluntariness, demographic and opinion related

Demographic and opinion-related questions Gender/age access to a home computer enrollment in developmental courses; Internet experience; frequency of use of mobile devices; types of information, and library and learning

resources currently used and interested in accessing

Quantitative Data Analysis Research Question 1. Are the following independent variables

significant predictors of the behavioral intention to use mobile learning: performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, voluntariness, perceived playfulness, and self-management of learning?

Research Question 2. Are the following independent variables significant predictors of the use of mobile learning: performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, perceived playfulness, self-management of learning and facilitating conditions?

Analysis: multiple regression

Analysis: multiple regression

Why? Used to explain relationships - determine if predictor variables are predicting a continuous dependent variable.

Quantitative Analysis cont. Research Question 3. Is there a statistically

significant difference between males and females on the behavioral intention to use mobile learning?

Research Question 4. Is there a statistically significant difference between males and females on the use of mobile learning?

Analysis: independent samples t-test

Analysis: independent samples t-test

Why? comparing two groups gender and intention to use or actual use.

Quantitative Analysis cont.Research Question 5. Are there

statistically significant relationships among the participants’ age, behavioral intention to use mobile learning and the actual use of mobile learning?Analysis: bivariate Pearson correlations (r)

Why? seek to determine if age is related to intention to use or actual use mobile learning.

Interview

Research Setting and Population, and Participants

Convenience sampling Selecting participants

Courses targeted

Qualitative – Interview Data Collection Semi structured questions Protocol

Interviewer Script Face-to-face, online, or phone

Interview Questions Research Question 2 - Predictors of use

Research Question 4 - Difference in use between males and females

Research Question 5 - relationships among the participants’ age, intentions, and actual use

Interview Question 1. What factors influence your actual use of mobile learning? What factors prevent you from using mobile learning?

Interview Question 2. Do you believe there is a difference in the amount of time men spend on mobile learning when compared to the amount of time women spend on mobile learning ? Please explain your answer.

Interview Question 3. Do you believe age affects your actual use of mobile learning? Please explain your answer.

Qualitative Data Analysis Content Analysis

Organize Code the Categorize Narrative discussion Interpretation to assign meaning

Questions?