A MODEL FOR ACCEPTANCE AND USAGE OF EDUCATIONAL SOCIAL SOFTWARES

• Published in: Academic Journal of Information Technology 2013-10, Vol.4 (13), p.39
• Main Authors: AKBIYIK, Adem, COSKUN, Erman
• Format: Article
• Language: Turkish
• ISSN: 1309-1581
• DOI: 10.5824/1309-1581.2013.4.003.x

Advancements in the field of communication technologies and their reflections in daily life have made the Internet one of the biggest necessities of mankind. Social software tools are one of the most commonly used today's Internet technologies, which offer a myriad of different services. The popularity of social software -especially among younger generations- has arisen the question of whether distance learners are willing to use these technologies for educational purposes. This study attempts to address this issue by developing and testing a hybrid technology acceptance model taking into consideration distance learners' expectations and concerns about social software. In order to examine distance learners' behavioral intention to use social software, their expectations and concerns were integrated with prior technology acceptance models, Akbiyik & Coskun (2012) suggested a hybrid acceptance model. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed to test the reliability and validity of the measurement model. This study contains the structural equation modeling technique to evaluate the hypothesized model. The proposed model explained 48% of the variance of behavioral intention (R2=,48) indicating that expectations (interaction and technological contribution) and concerns (perceived peer barrier, perceived tutor barrier, and unfettered technology) about social software have a quite strong and statistically significant influence on distance learners' usage intention through the mediation of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use.