Abstracts
Abstract
The paper investigates the impact of virtual environmental characteristics such as collaboration, communication, and resource sharing on social media adoption by the academic community at the university level. Building on the social constructivist paradigm and technology acceptance model, we propose a conceptual model to assess social media adoption in academia by incorporating collaboration, communication, and resource sharing as predictors of social media adoption, whereas perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness act as mediators in this relationship. Structural equation modeling serves to estimate the proposed conceptual model on a sample of 661 respondents from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The findings suggest that an individual’s propensity toward social media features (i.e., collaboration, communication, and resource sharing) acts as a stimulus to their social media adoption. Moreover, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness mediate the relationship between these stimuli and their outcomes (i.e., social media adoption). The paper concludes with the discussion on the findings and recommendations for the academicians and the practitioners of social media in the higher education institutions.
Keywords:
- collaboration,
- communication,
- resource sharing,
- social media,
- academia
Appendices
Bibliography
- Berger, P. (2017). Beyond plain acceptance or sheer resistance: A typology of university instructors' attitudes to students' media use in class. Teaching and Teacher Education, 67, 410-417. doi: 10.1016/j.tate.2017.07.009
- Bernard, R. M., Rubalcava, B. R. de, & St-Pierre, D. (2000). Collaborative online distance learning: Issues for future practice and research. Distance Education, 21(2), 260-277. doi: 10.1080/0158791000210205
- Bock, G.-W., Zmud, R., Kim, Y.-G., & Lee, J.-N. (2005). Behavioral Intention formation in knowledge sharing: Examining the Roles of extrinsic motivators, social-psychological forces, and organizational climate. Management Information Systems Quarterly, 29(1).
- Chen, B., & Bryer, T. (2012). Investigating instructional strategies for using social media in formal and informal learning. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 13(1), 87-104.
- Chen, H., & Gilchrist, S. B. (2013). Online access to higher education on YouTubeEDU. New Library World, 114(3/4), 99-109. doi: 10.1108/03074801311304023
- Curtis, L., Edwards, C., Fraser, K. L., Gudelsky, S., Holmquist, J., Thornton, K., & Sweetser, K. D. (2010). Adoption of social media for public relations by nonprofit organizations. Public Relations Review, 36, 90-92. doi: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2009.10.003
- Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived Usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319-340. doi: 10.2307/249008
- Ebner, M. (2009). Introducing live microblogging: How single presentations can be enhanced by the mass. Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching, 2(1), 108-119.
- Fishbein, M., & Ajzen, I. (1975). Belief, attitude, intention and behavior: An introduction to theory and research. Massachusetts, USA: Addison-Wesley Pub (Sd).
- Forbes, D. (2017). Professional online presence and learning networks: Educating for ethical use of social media. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 18(7), 175-190. doi: 10.19173/irrodl.v18i7.2826
- Forkosh-Baruch, A., & Hershkovitz, A. (2012). A case study of Israeli higher-education institutes sharing scholarly information with the community via social networks. The Internet and Higher Education, 15(1), 58-68.
- Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 50, 39.
- Gerbing, D. W., & Anderson, J. C. (1988). An updated paradigm for scale development incorporating unidimensionality and its assessment. Journal of Marketing Research, 25(2), 186. doi: 10.2307/3172650
- Gruzd, A., Staves, K., & Wilk, A. (2012). Connected scholars: Examining the role of social media in research practices of faculty using the UTAUT model. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(6), 2340-2350. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2012.07.004
- Hopp, T., & Gangadharbatla, H. (2016). Examination of the factors that influence the technological adoption intentions of tomorrow's new media producers: A longitudinal exploration. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, Part B, 1117-1124. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2014.09.040
- Hrastinski, S., & Aghaee, N. M. (2012). How are campus students using social media to support their studies? An explorative interview study. Education and Information Technologies, 17(4), 451-464. doi: 10.1007/s10639-011-9169-5
- Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: conventional criteria versus New alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6(1), 1-55.
- Hu, P. J. H., & Hui, W. (2012). Examining the role of learning engagement in technology-mediated learning and its effects on learning effectiveness and satisfaction. Decision Support Systems, 53(4), 782-792. doi: 10.1016/j.dss.2012.05.014
- InternetLiveStats. (2018). Internet usage - social media statistics. Retrieved from http://www.internetlivestats.com/
- InternetWorldStats. (2018). World internet users and population stats. Retrieved from https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
- Jiang, J. J., Hsu, M. K., Klein, G., & Lin, B. (2000). E-commerce user behavior model: An empirical study. Human Systems Management, 19(4), 265-275.
- Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59-68.
- Karikari, S., Kofi, O.-F., & Owusu-Frimpong, N. (2017). Evaluating individual level antecedents and consequences of social media use in Ghana. Technological Forecasting & Social Change, 123(10), 68-79. doi: 10.1016/j.techfore.2017.06.023
- Koh, E., & Lim, J. (2012). Using online collaboration applications for group assignments: The interplay between design and human characteristics. Computers & Education, 59(2), 481-496. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2012.02.002
- Kwahk, K.-Y., & Park, D.-H. (2016). The effects of network sharing on knowledge-sharing activities and job performance in enterprise social media environments. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, Part B, 826-839. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2015.09.044
- Lau, W. W. F. (2017). Effects of social media usage and social media multitasking on the academic performance of university students. Computers in Human Behavior, 68, 286-291. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2016.11.043
- Lowry, G. (2002). Modelling user acceptance of building management systems. Automation in Construction, 11(6), 695-705. doi: 10.1016/S0926-5805(02)00010-9
- Lu, J., Yao, J. E., & Yu, C.-S. (2005). Personal innovativeness, social influences and adoption of wireless Internet services via mobile technology. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 14(3), 245-268. doi: 10.1016/j.jsis.2005.07.003
- Macho, S., & Ledermann, T. (2011). Estimating, testing, and comparing specific effects in structural equation models: The phantom model approach. Psychological Methods, 16(1), 34-43. doi: 10.1037/a0021763
- Maresh-Fuehrer, M. M., & Smith, R. (2016). Social media mapping innovations for crisis prevention, response, and evaluation. Computers in Human Behavior, 54, 620-629. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2015.08.041
- Mazer, J. P., Murphy, R. E., & Simonds, C. J. (2007). Taylor & francis online: I'll see you on "Facebook": The effects of computer-mediated teacher self-disclosure on student motivation, affective learning, and classroom climate. Communication Education, 56(1), 1-17.
- Mazman, S. G., & Usluel, Y. K. (2010). Modeling educational usage of Facebook. Computers and Education, 55(2), 444-453. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2010.02.008
- Mbati, L. (2013). Online social media applications for constructivism and observational learning. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 14(5), 166-185.
- Ozkan, S., & Koseler, R. (2009). Multi-dimensional students' evaluation of e-learning systems in the higher education context: An empirical investigation. Computers & Education, 53(4), 1285-1296. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2009.06.011
- Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J.-Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879-903. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879
- Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants, part II. Do they really think differently? On the Horizon, 9(6), 1-6.
- Roblyer, M. D., McDaniel, M., Webb, M., Herman, J., & Witty, J. V. (2010). Findings on Facebook in higher education: A comparison of college faculty and student uses and perceptions of social networking sites. Internet and Higher Education, 13(3), 134-140. doi: 10.1016/j.iheduc.2010.03.002
- Sánchez, R. A., Cortijo, V., & Javed, U. (2014). Students' perceptions of Facebook for academic purposes. Computers & Education, 70(1), 138-149. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2013.08.012
- Selwyn, N. (2012). Social media and higher education. In The Europa World of Learning. London, UK: Routledge.
- So, H.-J., & Brush, T. A. (2008). Student perceptions of collaborative learning, social presence and satisfaction in a blended learning environment: Relationships and critical factors. Computers & Education, 51(1), 318-336. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2007.05.009
- Sobaih, A. E. E., Moustafa, M. A., Ghandforoush, P., & Khan, M. (2016). To use or not to use? Social media in higher education in developing countries. Computers in Human Behavior, 58, 296-305. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2016.01.002
- Tess, P. A. (2013). The role of social media in higher education classes (real and virtual) - A literature review. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(5), A60-A68. doi: 10.1016/J.CHB.2012.12.032
- Venkatesh, V. (2000). Creation of favorable user perceptions: Exploring the role of intrinsic motivation. MIS Quaterly, 23(2), 239-260. doi: 10.2307/249753
- Venkatesh, V., & Davis, F. D. (2000). A theoretical extension of the technology acceptance model: Four longitudinal field studies. Management Science, 46(2), 186-204. doi: 10.1287/mnsc.46.2.186.11926
- Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- Wang, Q. (2010). Using online shared workspaces to support group collaborative learning. Computers & Education, 55(3), 1270-1276. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2010.05.023
- Wankel, C. (2009). Management education using social media. Organization Management Journal, 6(4), 251-262. doi: 10.1057/omj.2009.34
- Waters, R. D., Burnett, E., Lamm, A., & Lucas, J. (2009). Engaging stakeholders through social networking: How nonprofit organizations are using Facebook. Public Relations Review, 35(2), 102-106. doi: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2009.01.006
- Zolkepli, I. A., & Kamarulzaman, Y. (2015). Social media adoption: The role of media needs and innovation characteristics. Computers in Human Behavior, 43, 189-209. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2014.10.050