Role of Social Presence and Moderating Role of Computer Self Efficacy in Predicting the Continuance Usage of E-Learning Systems, The

Journal of Information Systems Education, Summer 2004 by Hayashi, Albert, Chen, Charlie, Ryan, Terry, Wu, Jiinpo

ABSTRACT

The continuous growth of the electronic learning (e-learning) market has drawn a lot of discussion about the effectiveness of virtual learning environments (VLE). The initial emphasis of e-learning in the context of information technology skills training continues to be relevant. The success of an e-learning program in information technology (IT) may require users to be equipped with a certain degree of computer self-efficacy and affect for information systems. These factors may, in turn, influence the satisfaction level of online learners and their intention to continue using the e-learning system. Therefore, it is plausible that these factors may be as important as or more important than the design of an effective VLE in an IT context. This paper blends the Computer Self-Efficacy (CSE) and Expectation-Confirmation Models (ECM), and assesses their applicability on the intention of online learners who continue using the e-learning system as a vehicle to assimilate IT skills. Second, it theorizes the causal relationship of the factors of Perceived Usefulness, Confirmation, Satisfaction, and IS Continuance in the e-learning context. Finally, it assesses the relative importance of social presence in helping online learners to prevail over the online asynchronous environment. Our results indicate that, in the context of assimilating IT skills, there is not a significant relationship among the CSE of online learners, their perceived usefulness, confirmation, and satisfaction level. As a moderating factor, computer self-efficacy does not have significant influence on learning outcomes. For knowledge long transfer, social presence was shown to have an effect in different VLEs.

Keywords: Expectation-Confirmation Model (ECM), Computer Self-Efficacy (CSE), Perceived Usefulness, Confirmation, Satisfaction, IS Continuance Intention.

1. INTRODUCTION

International Data Corporation (IDC) estimated the world corporate e-learning market was $6.6 billion in year 2002 and will grow to nearly $24 billion by 2006 at a compound annual rate of 35.6%.

However, there are many main challenges to implementing e-learning systems. They include (1) the cost of developing and purchasing e-learning systems; (2) the time required to develop e-learning systems; (3) the need to be convinced of e-learning's effectiveness compared to other training models (Bloom, 2003). Building upon (3), a pedagogical interpretation of how can we use the technology effectively for teaching and learning is posited (Rossiter, 2003).

A pilot field survey was conducted with online users, who had used the online learning system http://www.blackboard.com in taking an introductory core MlS course for a undergraduate Business Administration degree, from September to December, 2002. Course materials with differential degree of social presence were designed to understand its potential impacts on our proposed theory.

A path analysis was conducted to test the proposed integrative model and to identify the constructs of the model and their relationships. Our integrative framework will be useful to an educational administrator or e-learning system provider exploring the ways to improve the retention rate of online users. The immediate findings of our field survey will also be useful for a researcher beginning to recognize the importance of computer efficacy and expectation and their contribution to the re-adoption of e-learning systems.

This article is organized as follows: In the next two sections, we proposed an integrative framework to predict the continuing use of e-learning system based on the literature reviews on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), ECM, CSE and End-User Computing (EUC) theories. We then test the integrative framework against hypotheses on the causal relationship among different constructs in three e-training environments. The article is concluded with the analysis and discussion of the results, the study limitations, implications for research and our conclusions.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Technology Acceptance Model

The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) theory is useful to explain the usage behavior of Information Technology (IT) (Davis, 1989). The theory was built upon Fishbein and Ajzen's (1975) theory of reasoned action that asserts that beliefs could influence attitudes, which lead to intention to use and finally actual usage behavior. Conceiving the causal relationship would help us understand the IT (including e-learning system) adoption behavior.

Davis (1989) asserted that perceived usefulness (PLJ) and perceived ease of use (PEOU) represent beliefs finally leading to the actual use of IT. Perceived usefulness is the degree to which a person believes that a particular system would enhance his or her job performance (i.e., by reducing the time to accomplish a task or providing timely information). Perceived ease of use is the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would be free of effort (Davis, 1989). Two other constructs in TAM are attitude towards use and behavioural intention to use. Attitude towards use is the user's evaluation of the desirability of employing a particular information systems application. Behavioural intention to use is a measure of the likelihood a person will employ the application (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980). The research has demonstrated that Computer Self-Efficacy (CSE) would also exert a significant influence on individuals' emotional reactions to using computers, as well as their actual computer use (Compeau and Higgins, 1995). Hence it is plausible that CSE may also have effects on the constructs of the ECM.