While research supports the integration of mobile computing into instruction, there is disagreement concerning the unstructured use of mobile devices in lecture-based college classrooms. Research supports the argument that unstructured use creates distraction and decreased academic performance. Research also suggests that unstructured use actually supports lecture instruction through personalized learning situations. In either case, the motivations of students to use mobile device is often unclear. This study sought to investigate the motivations for students’ acceptance of mobile devices. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) was utilized to identify the factors leading to college students’ adoption of mobile devices. A survey based on UTAUT was distributed to 254 college students in six distinct lecture-based general education courses. The results revealed that Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, and Social Influence were positively correlated with Behavioral Intention for class-related behavior, with Performance Expectancy being the most significant. None of the constructs were significant for behavior unrelated to lecture. Analysis of the students’ intention based on the UTAUT moderators of age, gender, and experience did not produce any significant difference, nor did an analysis of the classes by subject. The study concludes that the ability of a mobile device to complete specific tasks was the strongest motivating factor leading to intention.

At public high schools in Cayman, teachers need to improve their productivity and efficiency by using technologies that are simple and portable like their personal devices. Studies about bring your own device (BYOD) initiatives have revealed conflicting outcomes, and are lacking in the Caribbean and especially in Cayman. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the main factors related to teachers' willingness to adopt BYOD in public high schools in Cayman. The theoretical framework was the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT). This study employed a cross-sectional survey design using a modified UTAUT instrument, which captured quantitative data from 82 participants. The use of hierarchical multiple regression to analyze the data revealed that teachers' BYOD adoption could expand by increasing facilitating conditions, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and decreasing perceived risk. This study reduces the gap in the literature about the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and BYOD in the Caribbean and the Cayman Islands. It also provides evidence that perceived risk can increase its explanatory power of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. The study also contributes to a positive social change by revealing critical issues that administrators should address when devising BYOD policies and planning educational technology integration.

The aim of this study was to investigate factors affecting the adoption of open access in research activities within Tanzanian public universities in order to device mechanisms of enhancing the use of this mode of scholarly communication. The study adopted the UTAUT model to formulate an open access research model comprising of six constructs and five moderators for guidance of this investigation. A triangulation approach for data gathering was adopted. In the first instance, a semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 398 respondents selected using the stratified random sampling from a population of 1088 university researchers from six public universities in Tanzania. The interview involving 63 policy makers and structured records review were also conducted to complement the questionnaire survey. The descriptive and binary logistic regression statistics of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) were used for data analysis. The study established that majority of the policy makers (90.5%) and researchers (72.1%) were aware of open access. Attitude, awareness, effort expectancy, and performance expectancy were established as the key determinants for researchers’ behavioural intention of open access usage while age, awareness, behavioural intention, facilitating conditions and social influence were found to significantly affect researchers’ actual usage of open access. It was concluded that researchers’ and policy makers’ general perceptions about open access were very positive signifying the acceptance of this mode of scholarly communication in the study area. Current poor research conditions and researchers’ low Internet self-efficacy such as inadequate information search and online publishing skills were cited as the main hindrances for researchers to use open access in scholarly communication. The study recommends institutionalisation of open access publishing in Tanzanian public universities and other similar research institutions so as to improve the dissemination of research output emanating from such institutions. Six areas for further research to establish more insights regarding the feasibility for open access development in the country are also recommended. / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)

近年來臺灣民眾的閱讀習慣開始改變，透過數位載具進行閱讀的人口逐漸增加。面對數位閱讀時代的來臨，圖書館為了推廣數位閱讀，陸續提供電子書閱讀器借閱服務。由於國內圖書館推動這項服務仍在起步階段，針對電子書閱讀器借閱服務之使用研究有其必要性。 因此，本研究以整合性科技接受模式為理論基礎，探討圖書館讀者對電子書閱讀器借閱服務之使用行為、行為意願及其影響因素，並分析讀者之性別、教育程度、學院別、數位閱讀載具使用經驗、電子書使用經驗等個人特徵，對影響因素與行為意願之調節效果。 本研究以交通大學的學生為研究對象，並以「交通大學圖書館電子書閱讀器借閱服務之使用調查」問卷為研究工具。問卷調查結果以描述統計、相關分析、多元迴歸分析與階層迴歸分析進行分析，研究結果如下： 1.讀者主要透過同儕分享得知電子書閱讀器借閱服務； 2.讀者使用電子書閱讀器借閱服務之主要動機為體驗使用iPad 2； 3.閱讀電子書是讀者使用電子書閱讀器借閱服務之主要用途； 4.網路免費電子書是讀者閱讀電子書的主要來源； 5.讀者主要利用Google或其他搜尋引擎查詢電子書； 6.讀者閱讀電子書時遭遇的困難以眼睛疲倦感與電子書內容不足佔最多數； 7.讀者對iPad 2閱讀電子書的整體經驗多數感到滿意； 8.讀者未借用iPad 2的最主要原因是不知有電子書閱讀器借閱服務，再者是iPad 2數量不足； 9.多數讀者願意使用電子書閱讀器借閱服務，也願意繼續使用該服務，並樂意推薦他人； 10.讀者使用電子書閱讀器借閱服務的行為意願之影響因素包括：績效期望、努力期望與社群影響，其中社群影響最具預測力； 11.讀者的性別、教育程度、學院別、數位閱讀載具使用經驗、電子書使用經驗等五項個人特徵對影響因素與行為意願之關係不具調節效果。 本研究針對上述結果加以討論，並提出相關建議，提供圖書館推行該服務，以及未來研究之參考。 / In recent years people's reading habits have begun to change, and the population of digital reading device users has been growing gradually. Face with the coming era of digital reading, libraries provide e-book reader lending services one after another in order to promote digital reading. Since the library services in Taiwan are still at the initial stage, it is necessary to examine the use of e-book reader lending service. Therefore this study was based on UTAUT（Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology）. The purpose of this study was to investigate reader's behavior, intention and determinants toward e-book reader lending service, and examine moderators of the relationships between determinants and intention, including gender, education, academy, digital reading device experience and e-book experience. In this research, students at National Chiao Tung University were chosen as the testing participants. The instruments used in the study was the National Chiao Tung University Library E-book Reader Lending Service Use Survey. The data was analyzed by descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, multiple regression analysis, and hierarchical regression. The findings of the study were as follows: 1.Most readers know about e-book reader lending service by peer sharing; 2.The motivation of most readers using e-book reader lending service is to try iPad 2; 3.Majority of readers use e-book reader lending service for reading e-books; 4.Most readers read e-books that are from internet and for free; 5.Majority of readers find e-books on Google or other search engines; 6.Most readers have difficulty with reading e-books because of eyestrain and lack of content; 7.Most readers feel satisfied with the e-book reading experience on the iPad 2; 8.Majority of readers have not borrowed the iPad 2 because of not knowing the service and lack of iPad 2; 9.Most readers willing to use e-book reader lending service and use the service continuously. They also willing to recommend others to use the service; 10.The determinants of intention to use e-book reader lending service among students at National Chiao Tung University include performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence. The predictive power of social influence is highest among all determinants. 11.Personal characteristics of the readers including gender, education, academy, digital reading device experience and e-book experience don't moderate the relationships between determinants and intention. According to the findings above, this study provided some suggestions for libraries to promote the service, and future research suggestions.

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:48:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 71040100499.pdf.jpg: 16266 bytes, checksum: 600e8a9f1cfb89d1b0ed0df002296139 (MD5) 71040100499.pdf: 3824101 bytes, checksum: cb7a1bf5076a35da07172b02ade64ace (MD5) 71040100499.pdf.txt: 233643 bytes, checksum: a6de5bcd9e087e7f9317d47d3ad96665 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-02-18T00:00:00Z / Existe a expectativa de que cada indivíduo absorva de forma rápida e satisfatória os avanços tecnológicos para que possa usufruir dos seus benefícios e permanecer competitivo no mercado de trabalho. Mesmo que o foco principal da maior parte das pesquisas esteja no alcance de benefícios para as empresas com o uso de tecnologia, a intenção de comportamento do indivíduo representa o passo inicial para a sua adoção. No entanto, ao mesmo tempo em que se percebe a evolução das tecnologias em benefício das pessoas, também existem evidências no sentido de um sentimento de frustração com a tecnologia. Nenhum estudo é conclusivo sobre a identificação das variáveis que afetam o desenvolvimento das percepções e intenções para a tecnologia. Além disso, a maior parte dos modelos foi testada em países desenvolvidos ou em camadas sociais superiores da população. O propósito principal dessa tese é apresentar forma alternativa de medir a Predisposição para a Tecnologia, que seja aplicável não apenas em situações específicas, mas também para toda a gama da população. O trabalho faz uso das ferramentas da Teoria de Resposta ao Item para a proposição e validação de uma nova escala de Predisposição para a Tecnologia, que se mostrou bastante consistente e coerente. A nova escala possui a vantagem de ter maior poder discriminante, especialmente para as classes de menor nível educacional e de renda. Além disso, a escala criada apresenta mais informação com um número reduzido de itens, o que pode representar reduções de custo e tempo de aplicação dos questionários. / There is an expectation that each individual absorb, in a fast and satisfactory way, technological advances so that he/she can take advantage of their benefits and remain competitive in the job market. Although the main focus of most researches is on the technological benefits for businesses using technology, the behavior intention of the individual represents the first step towards its adoption. However, at the same time, technology is perceived as an evolution for the benefit of people, there are also clear signs towards a sense of frustration with technology. No study is conclusive about identification of variables that affect the development of perceptions and intentions toward technology. Moreover, most of the models were tested in developed countries or in high social level populations. The main purpose of this thesis is to present an alternative way of measuring the Technology Predisposition, which applies not only in specific situations, but also for the full range of population. This study work makes use of the tools of Item Response Theory, for proposition and validation of a new scale of Technology Predisposition, which proved to be quite consistent and coherent. The new scale has the advantage of having more discriminative power, especially for the lower classes of educational level and income. Moreover, the created scale displays more information with a limited number of items, which may represent cost and time reductions.

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:48:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 71050100639.pdf.jpg: 16840 bytes, checksum: f52d28f367ca09ad56a56f3b20c4d3bc (MD5) 71050100639.pdf: 1887160 bytes, checksum: c0ab23c0d77614a2a26f9ad11f471552 (MD5) 71050100639.pdf.txt: 268123 bytes, checksum: 2b3e0404384f6666d813d9e234c7dfef (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-12-09T00:00:00Z / Embora a resistência às tecnologias seja um problema freqüente nas empresas, as pesquisas nessa área são fragmentadas, não-cumulativas e raras na literatura. Atualmente, a resistência à Educação a Distância [EAD] é um problema significativo, embora tal tecnologia de ensino tenha elevados índices de crescimento em vários países. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi identificar e analisar as principais dimensões de resistência à EAD na Educação Corporativa [EC]. Após revisão bibliográfica de temas como EC a Distância, Resistência às Tecnologias e Teoria Unificada de Aceitação e Uso de Tecnologias [UTAUT], foi desenvolvida e testada uma estrutura teórica que visou explicar a Resistência à EAD na EC. As hipóteses iniciais desta pesquisa defenderam que tal resistência é causada por oito fatores: Auto-Eficácia, Competência em TI, Expectativa de Desempenho, Expectativa de Esforço, Influência Social, Condições Facilitadoras, Interatividade e Comunicação Interna. A partir da técnica de Modelagem de Equações Estruturais, as hipóteses iniciais foram testadas e os resultados mostraram que, na amostra pesquisada, as dimensões Auto-Eficácia e Expectativa de Desempenho influenciam direta e positivamente a Resistência à EAD na EC, e as dimensões Expectativa de Esforço, Condições Facilitadoras e Interatividade são construtos antecedentes à Expectativa de Desempenho. Tais resultados podem servir de subsídio na tomada de decisões gerenciais sobre implementação e manutenção de cursos à distância. Do ponto de vista teórico, foi criada e validada uma escala de Resistência à EAD, bem como elaborada uma estrutura teórica de Resistência à EAD na EC – a estrutura READEC. Por fim, são apresentadas sugestões para futuras pesquisas. / Although the technologies resistance is indeed an usual problem within the companies, researches in this area are fragmental, non-cumulative and rare in literature. Nowadays, the resistance to Distance Education [DE] is a significant problem, although this type of learning technology has a high level of growing in many countries. The aim of this research was to identify and analyze the main dimensions of resistance to the DE in Corporative Education [CE]. After bibliography revision of themes like Distance CE, Technologies Resistance, and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technologies [UTAUT], a theoretical structure was developed and tested which aimed to explain the Resistance to DE in CE. The initial hypotheses of this research has defended that such resistance is caused by eight factors: Self-efficacy, IT Competence, Performance Expectations, Effort Expectation, Social Influence, Facilitating Conditions, Interactivity and Internal Communication. From the Structural Equation Modeling Technique, the initial hypotheses were tested and the results have shown that, in the researched sample, the dimensions Self-efficacy and Performance Expectations has a direct and positive influence regarding DE Resistance in CE, and Effort Expectation, Facilitating Conditions and Interactivity dimensions are constructs previous to Performance Expectations. Such results can be an allowance in management decisions regarding implementation and maintenance of distance courses. By theoretical point of view a DE Resistance scale was created and validated, and also a theoretical DE resistance structure in CE elaborated – The READEC Structure. Finally, future researches suggestions are presented here.

Submitted by Felipe Bogea (fbogea@gmail.com) on 2018-08-11T16:54:25Z No. of bitstreams: 1 tese_Felipe_Bogea_20180805.pdf: 1312790 bytes, checksum: f043260e3a0d0be59420a94f738b5833 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Debora Nunes Ferreira (debora.nunes@fgv.br) on 2018-08-13T14:42:40Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 tese_Felipe_Bogea_20180805.pdf: 1312790 bytes, checksum: f043260e3a0d0be59420a94f738b5833 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Suzane Guimarães (suzane.guimaraes@fgv.br) on 2018-08-13T15:24:08Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 tese_Felipe_Bogea_20180805.pdf: 1312790 bytes, checksum: f043260e3a0d0be59420a94f738b5833 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-13T15:24:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 tese_Felipe_Bogea_20180805.pdf: 1312790 bytes, checksum: f043260e3a0d0be59420a94f738b5833 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-07-17 / Social media mass adoption by individuals has increased consumer power, which, in turn, has pressured companies to adopt and manage its social media communications. However, there is limited research specifically on social media marketing adoption by companies. Furthermore, there is little consensus about the adoption factors and a lack of standardization in the terminology used in the academic articles. This thesis further the knowledge in social media adoption at the company level, by (i) identifying variables that can influence social media adoption by companies and determining how these variables influence adoption; (ii) proposing and empirically testing a theoretical model of social media adoption, under the light of TAM, UTAUT, and Institutional Theory. This thesis was conducted in two phases, which derived two articles. The first phase was primarily composed by analysis of the semi-structured interviews with senior marketing executives of large companies of different economic sectors. The second phase further developed the theoretical model and quantitatively tested it, based on the results of surveys sent to marketing professionals. The results of the second phase show that Isomorphic pressures (eg: coercive and mimetic pressures), social influence and facilitating conditions were the key factors driving social media adoption. / A adoção em massa das mídias sociais pelos indivíduos aumentou o poder dos consumidores, o que pressionou as empresas a adotarem e gerenciarem sua comunicação nas mídias sociais. Todavia, há poucas pesquisas sobre a adoção do marketing nas mídias sociais por empresas. Além disso, existe pouco consenso sobre os fatores que levam a adoção e uma ausência da terminologia empregada nos artigos acadêmicos. Essa tese amplia o conhecimento da adoção de mídias sociais pelas empresas ao: (i) identificar as variáveis que podem influenciar na adoção das mídias sociais e determinar como essas variáveis influenciam a adoção; (ii) propor e testar um modelo teórico de adoção de mídias sociais sob o primsma de TAM, UTAUT, e Teoria Institucional. Essa tese foi desenvolvida em duas fases, gerando dois artigos. A primeira fase foi composta basicamente pela análise de entrevistas semiestruturadas com executivos sêniors de marketing de diferentes setores da economia. A segunda fase, continuou o desenvolvimento do modelo teórico e quantitativamente testou o mesmo, baseado nos resultados dos questionários enviados para profissionais de marketing. Os resultados da segunda fase indicam que as pressões isomórficas (mimetica e coercitiva), influência social e condições facilitadoras são os principais fatores na adoção do marketing nas mídias sociais.

Sustainable development as a research topic is becoming more prevalent across different fields. From a computer science perspective sustainability can incorporate anything from how to develop low-resource-use algorithms to human-computer-interaction oriented applications for behavior change. Eco-feedback systems is the collective term for solutions that can give consumers feedback regarding the environmental impact from their product use. This thesis explores how Persuasive Systems Design (PSD) and eco-feedback can be merged for a digital context, i.e. during the use of computers and software. Two design prototypes were developed where one was considered neutral and the other had PSD applied. The prototypes were included in two separate questionnaires and distributed to capture participants' use intention and perceived persuasive potential of the different designs. Further on, the PSD prototype was used in a usability test and short interview with the intention to gather more opinions in addition to the questionnaire. The results show no significant difference in the response towards the neutral against the persuasive systems design. In total the perceived ease of use and usability score high, meaning the participants regard the design to be easy to use. The response differs greatly when it comes to usefulness and intention to use a similar system in the future. The results of this thesis give an indication of where the user interest is currently at. However, further evaluation and more research is necessary to develop stronger conclusions regarding how different users perceive eco-feedback systems.

No description available.

Ph. D. (Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / The use of technology in supply chain management has increased over the years. Procurement is one of the primary supply chain management areas where the use of technology has gained momentum. This has been realised through the use of e-procurement systems. However, the adoption and implementation of e-procurement can be achieved more effectively if available models of technology adoption are taken into consideration. This study tested a conceptual framework integrating the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Unified Theory of the Acceptance and use of Technology (UTAUT) in the implementation of e-procurement practices in the South African public sector. Although there are several studies that have focused on procurement in the public sector in South Africa, there is no evidence of studies that extended the use of the TAM and the UTAUT within the public sector in South Africa. This study was conducted to fill this gap by proposing a framework combining the TAM and UTAUT and modelling their role in the adoption of e-procurement in the public sector. The study adopted a survey design and a quantitative research approach was used to evaluate relationships between different variables. The final sample for this study consists of 263 supply chain management (SCM) practitioners drawn from the public sector in the Gauteng Province, South Africa. A self-completion survey questionnaire was used to gather data to measure the eight constructs of the TAM and UTAUT. An Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) procedure was performed to assess the factor structure of the data collected in the study. Descriptive statistics were applied to examine the demographic profile of respondents and the perceptions of respondents towards the research constructs. Pearson correlations were used to test relationships and regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. In the EFA, two new factors, labelled as Personal Competence and External Assistance, were identified. The results of the hypotheses tests showed that five factors, namely: perceived use, self-efficacy, facilitating conditions, personal competence and external assistance significantly predicted attitudes towards the use of e-procurement systems. However, perceived ease of use was statistically insignificant. The results further show that attitudes towards system use significantly predict behavioural intention, which in turn significantly influences actual e-procurement system use. The theoretical framework fusing the TAM and UTAUT models provides useful insights for other researchers and adds valuable knowledge to the factors that might contribute to the adoption of e-procurement in the South African public sector. The study further makes significant contributions to SCM professionals in the public sector. It reiterates the challenges faced in SCM in the public sector and then demonstrates how the adoption of e-procurement could improve the system, while reducing service delivery inequality. By indicating the factors either promoting or impeding the adoption of e-procurement in the public sector, the study provides practitioners and other decision makers in SCM with suggestions on how to facilitate more rapid adoption and circumvent the influence of irrelevant factors. Among other things, the study recommends that to improve the adoption and continued use of e-procurement systems in the public sector in the Gauteng Province, it is necessary to customise the e-procurement system to ensure that it responds to the needs of users. In addition, it is important to increase the confidence and competence of users of the systems, providing the relevant technical infrastructure and support to users in order to positively influence their attitudes and behavioural intention towards the use of e-procurement systems.