TY - JOUR
T1 - Differences in intention to use educational RSS feeds between lebanese and British students
T2 - A multi-group analysis based on the technology acceptance model
AU - Tarhini, Ali
AU - Scott, Michael James
AU - Sharma, Sujeet Kumar
AU - Abbasi, Muhammad Sharif
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© ACPIL
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Really Simple Syndication (RSS) offers a means for university students to receive timely updates from virtual learning environments. However, despite its utility, only 21% of home students surveyed at a university in Lebanon claim to have ever used the technology. To investigate whether national culture could be an influence on intention to use RSS, the survey was extended to British students in the UK. Using the Technology Adoption Model (TAM) as a research framework, 437 students responded to a questionnaire containing four constructs: behavioural intention to use; attitude towards benefit; perceived usefulness; and perceived ease of use. Principle components analysis and structural equation modelling were used to explore the psychometric qualities and utility of TAM in both contexts. The results show that adoption was significantly higher, but also modest, in the British context at 36%. Configural and metric invariance were fully supported, while scalar and factorial invariance were partially supported. Further analysis shows significant differences between perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use across the two contexts studied. Therefore, it is recommended that faculty demonstrate to students how educational RSS feeds can be used effectively to increase awareness and emphasise usefulness in both contexts.
AB - Really Simple Syndication (RSS) offers a means for university students to receive timely updates from virtual learning environments. However, despite its utility, only 21% of home students surveyed at a university in Lebanon claim to have ever used the technology. To investigate whether national culture could be an influence on intention to use RSS, the survey was extended to British students in the UK. Using the Technology Adoption Model (TAM) as a research framework, 437 students responded to a questionnaire containing four constructs: behavioural intention to use; attitude towards benefit; perceived usefulness; and perceived ease of use. Principle components analysis and structural equation modelling were used to explore the psychometric qualities and utility of TAM in both contexts. The results show that adoption was significantly higher, but also modest, in the British context at 36%. Configural and metric invariance were fully supported, while scalar and factorial invariance were partially supported. Further analysis shows significant differences between perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use across the two contexts studied. Therefore, it is recommended that faculty demonstrate to students how educational RSS feeds can be used effectively to increase awareness and emphasise usefulness in both contexts.
KW - Cross-cultural
KW - Developing countries
KW - Engagement
KW - RSS
KW - Technology adoption model
KW - Virtual learning environments
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M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84922310967
SN - 1479-4403
VL - 13
SP - 14
EP - 29
JO - Electronic Journal of e-Learning
JF - Electronic Journal of e-Learning
IS - 1
ER -