The Use of a Course Management System in the Light of the Technology Acceptance Model: A Student Perspective

Cheng-Chang Sam Pan, Stephen Sivo, James Brophy

April 24, 2003, 0000 GMT

+ Sam has arrived.
- Sam just left.
+ Sam has arrived.
< Sam> howdy
< Sam> to whoever is in the room
< tcc_staff> hello
< Sam> how are you doing?
< tcc_staff> fine, I'm Kelli one of the TCC staff
< Sam> hi, kelli
< tcc_staff> just to let you know, your chat session is being logged
< Sam> I am Sam trying to answer questions
< Sam> My supervisors are not able to make it
< tcc_staff> ok
< tcc_staff> you'll be flying solo
< Sam> I guess os
< Sam> so
< Sam> Just came back from Chicago last night
< Sam> I bet they are still in Chicago
< tcc_staff> ah
< tcc_staff> where are you from?
< Sam> Orlando
< tcc_staff> welcome to TCC
< tcc_staff> what courses have you taken online?
< Sam> Thank you for providing this opportunity
< Sam> I took Research in IT
< Sam> and Measurement and evaluation in education
< tcc_staff> thank you for presenting!
< Sam> both are fully online
< Sam> and a number of M courses
< Sam> meaning reduced seat time classes
< tcc_staff> which course management system did you use?
< Sam> and some E couses
< Sam> WebCT
< tcc_staff> ok
< Sam> what about your school?
< Sam> self develped?
< tcc_staff> Here at Kapiolani CC - University of Hawaii we also use WebCT
< Sam> Roger that
< tcc_staff> :)
< Sam> however, faculty use it to a very degree
< Sam> varing
< tcc_staff> I see
< Sam> they are W, M, and E courses
< tcc_staff> W, M, and E courses?
< Sam> Fully Web-based (W)....reduced seat time (M)...Web-enhanced (E)
+ miri has arrived.
- miri just left.
< tcc_staff> ah, thank you
< Sam> np
< tcc_staff> have you moderated a chat before?
< Sam> yeah
< tcc_staff> ok, great!
< Sam> am I supposed to do that today?
< tcc_staff> yes
< Sam> ^_<
< Sam> I don't see any traffic here
< Sam> though
< tcc_staff> participants will visit your chat session, soon hopefully
< Sam> yeah, hopefully
< Sam> I do need some inputs from them
< Sam> on this pilot study
< tcc_staff> good idea
< tcc_staff> to ask for input
< Sam> are you teaching>
< Sam> sorry ...go on
< tcc_staff> I work in distance learning and conduct training sessions for faculty
< tcc_staff> interested in teaching online
< Sam> sounds good
< tcc_staff> yes, it is
< Sam> so you do faculty development
< tcc_staff> are you conducting research?
< tcc_staff> yes, I do
< Sam> yeah I do reserach on that area too
< Sam> ucf.edu/~sampan
< Sam> and click on Projects
< Sam> I put some paper there
< Sam> I can send you another one we did for Jacksonville teaching conference
< tcc_staff> great...thank you
< Sam> np
< tcc_staff> thank you for your projects link
< tcc_staff> you have a very nice web site
< Sam> np
< Sam> oh, thank you...but I have a long way to go
< Sam> I used to work part time as an instructional designer here at the university of central florida
< tcc_staff> oh terrific
< Sam> and we did professional development to staff and faculty
< Sam> but now i am working as research assistant
< Sam> focus more on data collection and analysis
< tcc_staff> I see
< Sam> although I still miss the team
< Sam> instructional design team
< tcc_staff> you have your work on online learning
< tcc_staff> researching WebCT and the Technology Acceptance Model
< Sam> you mean this paper here
< tcc_staff> yes
< Sam> yeah
< Sam> it is nothing fancy but the statistical procedures we used can account for measurement errors
< tcc_staff> this model sounds interesting
< Sam> which is different from traditional multiple linear regression procedures
< Sam> yeah, the model is adapted from MIS research
< Sam> Management Information System
< tcc_staff> ah
< Sam> it was a interdisciplinary approach
< Sam> looking at things from different angles
< tcc_staff> and all sides of the equation
< Sam> Some may not like the idea
< Sam> did not really include the equations there
< Sam> on purpose
< tcc_staff> ah
< Sam> in case they would scare people away
< tcc_staff> what was your most significant finding?
< Sam> student attitude toward Web instruction and subjective norms matter in their success from the course
< tcc_staff> as in a web learning community
< Sam> and both can predict students' high GPA
< Sam> if they are high
< Sam> true
< tcc_staff> did you conduct a survey?
< Sam> yeah it is an online questionnaire
< tcc_staff> ah
< Sam> I used ColdFusion and MS Access to gather the data
< Sam> Thanks to my friend Dr. Corey Lee's open source, I did this like a piece of cake
< tcc_staff> did you target undergrad or graduate students?
< Sam> 217 undergraduate students from a General Psych class
< Sam> from fall2002
< Sam> this semester I used two courses
< tcc_staff> what types of subjective norms mattered to the students?
< Sam> hope to find some differences
< Sam> it is external pressure from your peers and your instructor
< Sam> both sources were measured
< Sam> I didn't include family members in this case...maybe I should
< tcc_staff> external pressures such as?
< Sam> like the one from your peers and instructors
< Sam> they think you need to use it or not
< tcc_staff> I see
< Sam> questions like I think my instructor wants me to use WebCT...rate 1-5
< Sam> no, actually it is a 7 point Likert scale
< tcc_staff> are the same courses offered in your study also offered on campus?
< Sam> no, it is an E course
< tcc_staff> ok
< Sam> it is a hybrid course
< tcc_staff> ok
< Sam> the technology acceptance model is composed of four variables
< Sam> perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitude toward WebCT, and actually use of WebCT
< Sam> to my surprise, students do not care about how easy the system or how useful it is to their learning
< tcc_staff> really
< tcc_staff> maybe they take it for granted
< Sam> true
< tcc_staff> until something goes wrong
< Sam> yeah
< tcc_staff> did they like using WebCT
< Sam> they have positive attitude toward WebCT instruction
< tcc_staff> ok
< tcc_staff> what types of features were they positive about?
< Sam> but I am not sure how tolerate they can be if the system adapted is really hard to learn
< tcc_staff> or was it more to do with pedagogy
< tcc_staff> like interaction
< Sam> hold on...let me check
< Sam> I measured their computer self efficacy
< Sam> that is when I found out what they are "good" at to which features of WebCT
< Sam> but in terms of attitude...
< Sam> I asked them
< Sam> All things considered, my using WebCT in my course work is
< Sam> 1. Bad---Good
< Sam> 2. Foolish---Wise
< Sam> 3. Unfavorable---Favorable
< Sam> 4. Harmful---Beneficial
< Sam> 5. Negative---Positive
< Sam> those five were asked in regard to their attitude toward using WebCT
< Sam> not sure if I answered your question
< tcc_staff> yes, you did
< tcc_staff> thank youi
< tcc_staff> you
< Sam> np
< Sam> thank you for flying with me
< Sam> B-)
< tcc_staff> you're welcome :)
< Sam> that is me with glasses
< Sam> smiling with you
< tcc_staff> :-)
< tcc_staff> enjoy the rest of the conference
< Sam> i will...
< Sam> I will be back next year
< tcc_staff> great!
< Sam> especically for a poor student like me
< Sam> :-P
< tcc_staff> your work is very useful
< Sam> this is a great idea
< Sam> just be cautious
< Sam> the external validity is weak
< Sam> the results might be skewed
< tcc_staff> ok
< Sam> since it is a convenience sample
< Sam> you can leave if you got other things to take care of
< Sam> I appreciated it
< tcc_staff> it was nice chatting with you
< Sam> BTW, I can send you another one about expert qualities of an instructional designer should possess
< Sam> the same here
< tcc_staff> oh that would be great
< Sam> sampan@ucf.edu
< tcc_staff> is this at the same web site
< Sam> for instructioanl designer' project, they are all ethnographic case study
< Sam> yeah
< Sam> let me know if you are interested
< Sam> It is in review for a journal
< tcc_staff> let me take a look
< Sam> the one we did in AECT is gonna be published in Quarterly Review of Distance Education
< Sam> not sure if that one is on my Website
< tcc_staff> expert qualities of an ID is located at your web site?
< Sam> no it is not there
+ Chris has arrived.
< Sam> that is the one I am gonna send you
- Chris just left.
< Sam> If you email me, I will send you those papers
< Sam> don't bother to look to my site
< tcc_staff> ok, my email address is: kgoya@hawaii.edu
< Sam> We modified the one from AECT 2002 and the paper got accepted in the journal
< tcc_staff> congratulations
< tcc_staff> I need to check on a few other chat sessions
< tcc_staff> thank you for the information
< Sam> no problem they are on the way
< Sam> the paper
< Sam> s
< tcc_staff> thanks agian
< tcc_staff> bye
< Sam> bye care

TCC 2003 Online Conference
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University of Hawaii, All rights reserved.