BROUARD, RAYNALD C.; EDD
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY, 1996
EDUCATION, TECHNOLOGY (0710); EDUCATION, HIGHER (0745); EDUCATION, ADULT
AND
CONTINUING (0516)
The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between the characteristics
of distance education
students, their computer literacy and technology acceptance and distance education
course satisfaction.
The theoretical framework for this study will apply Rogers and Havelock's Innovation,
Diffusion &
Utilization theories to distance education. It is hypothesized that technology
acceptance and computer
competency will influence the student course satisfaction and explain the decision
to adopt or reject
distance education curriculum and technology. Distance education delivery, Institutional
Support,
Convenience, Interactivity and five distance education technologies were studied.
The data were
collected by a survey questionnaire sent to four Florida universities. Three
hundred and nineteen and
students returned the questionnaire. A factor and regression analysis on three
measure of satisfaction
revealed significant difference between the three main factors related to the
overall satisfaction of
distance education students and their adoption of distance education technology
as medium of learning.
Computer literacy is significantly related to greater overall student satisfaction.
However, when
competing with other factors such as delivery, support, interactivity, and convenience,
computer literacy
is not significant. Results indicate that age and status are the only two student
characteristics to be
significant. Distance education technology acceptance is positively related
to higher overall satisfaction.
Innovativeness is also positively related to student overall satisfaction. Finally,
the technology used
relates positively to greater satisfaction levels within the educational experience.
Additional research
questions were investigated and provided insights into the innovation decision
process.
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Systems Simulation Group
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