Investigating the uptake of educational systems by academics using the technology to performance chain model
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the perceived performance, software usability, and attitude of academics to use online technology to perform their tasks in the academic context.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper assesses the acceptance and utilization of university lecturers for an online educational system using the technology-to-performance chain model. The evaluation process is conducted via an online survey which is administered to 180 university staff meanwhile objective measurements describing the actual utilization are considered during the analysis. Partial least squares path modeling is used in this study in tandem with other statistical methods to test the significance and influence of different constructs and factors related to the user.
Findings
The usability of information systems plays a crucial role compared to the attitude and social norms for lecturers to actually utilize technological products. Meanwhile, the TTF is observed to have more influence than the actual utilization for the perceived impact on performance. For the individual’s characteristics, the study indicates that the age is an influential factor on the utilization and performance in contrast to the gender which has a marginal impact.
Originality/value
The study describes a model to assess the acceptance of technology by academics based on combining self-reported data and objective quantitative measures which describe the actual utilization of the user. Further, the usability estimated using the well-known System Usability Scale is integrated within the developed model to reflect the ease of use for technology. Further, covariate analysis is conducted to explore how different types of users interact and react to educational systems for different factors including age, gender, academic qualifications and experience.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank all the university lecturers who were willing to participate in the e-learning usability project.
Citation
Harrati, N., Bouchrika, I. and Mahfouf, Z. (2017), "Investigating the uptake of educational systems by academics using the technology to performance chain model", Library Hi Tech, Vol. 35 No. 4, pp. 629-648. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-01-2017-0029
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited