THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS, COMPUTER LITERACY,
                         TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE, AND DISTANCE EDUCATION STUDENT SATISFACTION

                         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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