An Empirical Study of Factors Affecting Mobile Wireless Technology Adoption for Promoting Interactive Lectures in Higher Education

Authors

  • Chin Lay Gan University of Malaya
  • Vimala Balakrishnan University of Malaya

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v17i1.2111

Keywords:

computer mediated communication, open learning, higher education, interactive lectures, mobile wireless technology

Abstract

Use of mobile technology are widespread, particularly among the younger generation. There is a huge potential for utilizing such technology, particularly in lecture sessions with large number of students, serving as an interaction tool between the students and lecturer. The challenge is to identify adoption factors to ensure effective adoption of the technology to promote interactivity between students and lecturer in the classroom. This paper aims to examine factors supporting use of mobile wireless technology during lectures to promote interactivity between students and lecturers in Malaysia’s higher education institutions. Survey involving higher education students in Malaysia was conducted with a sample size of 302. Factor analysis results identified five factors: independent variables System Usefulness (SU), User System Perception (USP), User Uncertainty Avoidance (UUA), System and Information Quality (SIQ), and dependent variable Mobile Wireless Technology Adoption for Interactive Lectures (MWT_AIL). All independent variables are positively associated to MWT_AIL, with UUA and SIQ having higher level of significance compared to SU and USP. Respondents were selected from higher learning institutions from urban areas in Malaysia. Therefore results obtained are not representative of the entire higher education landscape in Malaysia and future studies are warranted to include higher learning institutions located in rural areas. It is hoped that findings from this study will serve as a catalyst for future researches to be conducted in this area, particularly among higher education researchers seeking ways to utilize technology effectively to enhance the learning experiences of the students in the classroom.

Author Biographies

Chin Lay Gan, University of Malaya

Gan Chin Lay is a lecturer at Multimedia University, Malacca, Malaysia. She is currently pursuing her PhD at the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of Malaya. Her doctoral dissertation is on the integration of mobile wireless technology in higher learning institutions.

Vimala Balakrishnan, University of Malaya

Vimala Balakrishnan received her PhD in the field of Ergonomics in 2009 from Multimedia University, Malaysia. Both her Masters and Bachelor degrees were from University of Science, Malaysia. She is currently affiliated with the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of Malaya as a Senior Lecturer. Most of her research works are in the field of data engineering, opinion mining, information retrieval and health informatics. Dr. Balakrishnan is also a member of the Medical Research Support (Medicres) group and Global Science and Technology Forum.

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Published

2016-02-02

How to Cite

Gan, C. L., & Balakrishnan, V. (2016). An Empirical Study of Factors Affecting Mobile Wireless Technology Adoption for Promoting Interactive Lectures in Higher Education. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v17i1.2111

Issue

Vol. 17 No. 1 (2016): Special Issue: Research Papers in Online Learning Performance and Behaviour

Section

Research Articles

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