Document Type
Dissertation
First Faculty Advisor
Mary Lyons
Keywords
Classroom; Mobile; Communication
Publisher
Bryant University
Abstract
The emergence of technology into higher education has drastically altered the nature and quality of learning experiences. Over the past twenty years, the advancement of technology and the evolvement of computer hardware and software have shifted the needs and expectations of students and faculty in performing their educational duties. Recently, demands among higher educational communities have centered on the need for increased mobility with regards to technology. In the fall of 2008, a number of schools, namely the University of Maryland, Freed-Hardeman University, and Abilene Christian University, issued mobile hand-held devices to a group of incoming students in an effort to meet the demands for increased mobility in educational technology. With this technology, these institutions aim to enhance the learning environment as well as increase interactions between the students and the faculty. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) attempts to examine user acceptance of new technology by measuring user perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of the newly issued technology. A survey taken a Bryant University in Smithfield, RI in February 2009 studied the potential student acceptance of new mobile hand-held technology. Statistical analysis found that all TAM factors measured in the survey were required to be combined in order to achieve acceptable reliability levels on the Cronbach’s alpha scale. Statistical analysis also found significant differences in the mean responses between the freshman/sophomore group and the junior/senior group of students. Also, significant differences were found between students with a Communication major and those students with Accounting, Actuarial Mathematics, and Marketing Majors.
