What Motivate Students to Continue Using Online Collaborative Tools: Post-Acceptance of Information System Approach

This paper aims to understand what motivates students at universities in Indonesia to continue using Online Collaborative Tools (OCTs) for their collaboration work. Utilising OCTs is crucial as the COVID-19 pandemic hit us in 2019 and forced all of us, particularly those who studied at university, to work online as precautionary measures. This research employs the Post-Acceptance Model of Information Systems (IS) approach to understand this issue. For an OCT to continue use, performance: effectivity, efficiency, and certainty is the key determinant, and perceived usability: perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and perceived enjoyment mediates confirmation and satisfaction and the intention to continue use. A total of 354 participants are involved in the data analysis employing Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Our results revealed that while the relationship between confirmation and satisfaction is partially mediated by perceived ease of use and enjoyment, the relationship between confirmation and intention to continue use is also partially mediated by perceived usefulness and enjoyment, and satisfaction. We found that the intention to continue using the OCT can be determined by 67.9% (substantial) of the variance of the model. Our research contributes theoretically to the IS research in this context and practically to the OCT discourse. Limitations and future research directions are discussed © 2023, International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning.All Rights Reserved.

Measuring Google Classroom's Usability Level from an Expert Perspective

The demand for the use of distance learning media, especially at the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic, led to the high use of one of the long-known distance learning media, namely Google Classroom. This study aims to provide empirical evidence of the effect of perceived usability on the use of Google Classroom recently. We use heuristic evaluation method to evaluate user interface of e-Learning with four expert participants who are also instructor/teacher in some courses, the data is presented in form of quantitative and in-depth in the form of qualitative. Result of the study showed that the highest severity level was 1 (cosmetic usability problem) in the first heuristic (visibility of system status): 2 from 4 expert said that Google Classroom does not provide visuals that help the user understand in which screen they are standing;and sixth heuristic (recognition rather than recall): 2 from 4 expert said that Google Classroom does not indicate which controls are currently inactive in clear visual way. This study introduces a new approach, risk opportunity measurement which is based on risk-based thinking of ISO 9001:2015 (standard of quality management system), to provide recommendations for improvement of problems found by evaluators to stakeholders based on principles/heuristics that have the highest to lowest risk opportunities for improvement and further development. © 2022 IEEE.

Investigating HCI of the LMS Blackboard Ultra using WAMMI during COVID-19: Usability and Design Interactivity

Many higher education institutions moved to online learning settings due to the COVID-19 pandemic and continued using online settings entirely or in a blended learning format. Usability and design interactivity are essential components of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), which need to be frequently measured and studied to ensure successful users' adoption of learning management systems (LMS) for higher education institutions and to achieve deep learning and improve students' engagement. This paper examines the usability level of the Blackboard Ultra interface perceived by two groups of users, faculty members and students at the College of Applied Studies (CAS) at the University of Bahrain (UoB). It investigates if a correlation exists between the results of each group. In addition, it studies demographic factors influencing users' perceived usability. This study uses a usability metric called Website Analysis and Measurement Inventory (WAMMI) to evaluate perceived usability. WAMMI measures five usability sub-scales: Attractiveness, Controllability, Efficiency, Helpfulness, and Learnability. Results indicate that Blackboard Ultra achieved an acceptable level of global usability score by both groups. Moreover, no significant differences were found between students' and faculty's perceptions of usability except for the efficiency sub-scale. Furthermore, the learnability sub-scale scored the least among students and faculty members, resembling a neutral usability level. The study also found that a higher frequency of BB usage resulted in higher levels of perceived usability. Based on the findings, the study proposes recommendations to improve Blackboard Ultra's usability level further among students and academic faculty members. © 2022 IEEE.

Impact Assessment of Ease and Usefulness of Online Teaching in Higher Education in Post COVID Era

—During COVID-19 and its resulting lockdown, the sudden closure of traditional offline classes resulted in the loss of education. Consequently, teaching pedagogies were unexpectedly changed, and a sudden shift towards online teaching was necessitated. The extensive availability of devices and applications made this shift easy. Nevertheless, all teachers were not equally equipped with the equivalent knowledge and resources, which could have affected their behavioral intention to continue online teaching in the future. This paper investigates the perception of university teachers to continue online teaching in higher education post-COVID. To accomplish this target, a mixed research approach was adopted. For quantitative data, 243 questionnaires were successfully collected from teachers of the top five central universities in India, using an online survey through Google forms by integrating the technology acceptance model (TAM). For qualitative data, online-focused group discussions (FGDs) with around seven teachers from different nations' universities were done. This study is cross-sectional, utilizing TAM factors for ascertaining teachers' behavioral intentions in India. All hypotheses were found significant by applying PLS-based SEM using smart-PLS software. This indicates that perceived usefulness and ease of use significantly impact attitude towards online teaching;further, perceived usefulness and attitude towards online teaching also significantly affect the behavioral intention of teachers to continue online teaching post-COVID era. The study helps educational institutions and respective national policymakers to define the future course of action in the education sector. © 2023 by the authors.

Perceived Level of Usability as an Evaluation Metric in Adaptive E-learning: A Case Study with Dyslexic Children.

The global spread of COVID-19 has shifted the learning process towards e-learning. In this context, a critical challenge for researchers is to understand and evaluate the effectiveness of e-learning, especially when the learning is adapted to the needs of individual users. In this work we argue that the learner's perception of the level of usability of a system is a valuable metric that gives an insight into the learners' engagement and motivation to learn. Little attention has been paid to this metric. In this paper we explore why this is important and valuable. We present a case study which uses the System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire to measure the user's perception of usability as an indirect (proxy) measure of engagement. A between-subject experiment was conducted with 41 learners with dyslexia. The intervention group used the adaptive version of the e-learning system that matched the material to the needs of the learner. The control group used a standard version. At the end, learning gain and SUS scores were assessed. The correlation between learning performance and the perceived level of usability was positive and moderate (0.517, p < 0.05) among participants in the intervention group. However, learning performance and perceived level of usability were unrelated in the control group (- 0.364, p > 0.05). From this, and other work, it appears that using a learner's assessment of the usability of a system is an effective way to measure their attitude to their learning. It reflects their perception of its suitability to their needs and this, in turn, is likely to affect their engagement and motivation. As such, this provides an effective instrument to judge whether adaptation based on learner needs has been successful.

An Augmented Reality Update of a Classic Game: “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?”, Case Study

37 years after its original launch, it is proposed a study comparing the Augmented Reality (AR) prototype of the game “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” with this classic edutainment game. The main goal of the experiment is to determine if there is a significant difference between the 13th mission (last level) of the game, and it was done with a sample of 20 individuals aged between 5 and 7 years. The results could be a promising future for both, gaming and education areas. The author used 3 investigation tools to reach the answer: Perceived Understanding, Perceived Usability and a version of the PSSUQ (Post-Study System Usability Questionnaire). A big constraint for this study was the COVID-19 pandemic that the world is living at the time it was completed, however, the use of technology played a big role to make it possible. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Factors Affecting the Perceived Usability of the COVID-19 Contact-Tracing Application "Thai Chana" during the Early COVID-19 Omicron Period.

Thai Chana is one of the mobile applications for COVID-19 disease-control tracking, especially among the Thais. The purpose of this study was to determine factors affecting the perceived usability of Thai Chana by integrating protection motivation theory, the extended technology acceptance model, and the system usability scale. In all, 800 Thais participated and filled an online questionnaire with 56 questions during the early COVID-19 omicron period (15 December 2021 to 14 January 2022). Structural equation modeling (SEM) showed that the understanding of COVID-19 has significant effects on perceived severity and perceived vulnerability, which subsequently leads to perceived usefulness. In addition, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use have significant direct effects on attitude, which subsequently leads to the intention to use, actual use, and perceived usability. This study is one of the first studies that have analyzed the mobile application for COVID-19 disease-control tracking. The significant and substantial findings can be used for a theoretical foundation, particularly in designing a new mobile application for disease-control tracking worldwide. Finally, protection motivation theory, the extended technology acceptance model, and the system usability scale can be used for evaluating other disease-control tracking mobile applications worldwide.

Perceived usability evaluation of Microsoft Teams as an online learning platform during COVID-19 using system usability scale and technology acceptance model in India.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a physical shutdown of all types of educational institutes worldwide due to which the education delivery has now shifted to an "online only" exclusivity model. In this perspective, perceived usability of the online learning platforms that are currently being used is an important aspect, especially due to the absence of any physical classes. In this work Microsoft Teams is used as the reference platform for which the perceived usability is evaluated. For the evaluation purpose a dual strategy is followed by using the System Usability Scale (SUS), which is a Human Computer Interaction (HCI) based approach, and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which is an Information Systems (IS) based approach. Although both these instruments are popular in their respective domains, yet they have not been considered simultaneously in one work for the purpose of usability evaluation. By doing so, this work attempts to streamline and unify the process of usability evaluation. Results that are obtained from a large-scale survey of university students show the similarity and equivalency between the two methodologies, with the Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) construct of TAM having greater similarity with SUS. Moreover, this work also considers the digital-divide aspect (mobile vs. web environment) that is prevalent particularly in developing countries like India, and whether it has any effect on the perceived usability. Results show that the consumption platform does not have any effect on the usability aspect.