Chapter 7: Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations
3.4 Factors influencing Use of Web 2.0 for TAL
3.4.3 Service Quality of Web 2.0 Technologies
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research Question Three that examined the influence of information quality on attitude towards use of Web 2.0 for TAL purposes. Selected metrics that were used to measure information quality include Web 2.0 technologies ensures information availability; Web 2.0 technologies provides me with sufficient information for teaching/learning; information provided by Web 2.0 technologies are clear and unambiguous; and Web 2.0 technologies provide me with relevant information for my academic activities.
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and the Technical/Functional Quality framework. Other measures used to operationalize service quality include service responsiveness, assurance, flexibility, IS training, reliability, IT assurance, empathy, accuracy, technical competence and empathy of the technical support team (for example, training or helpdesk) (Pitt, Watson and Kavan 1995; Delone and McLean 2003; Urbach and Muller 2011; Kim 2012 and Lwoga 2013).
Studies have shown that technical guidance and support play a key role in improving students‟
technology acceptance (Wang and Chiu 2011; Cheng, 2012 and Ramayah and Lee 2012).
Harshorne and Ajjan (2009) assert that the use of Web 2.0 technologies by students requires training and access to resources. According to Wang and Chiu (2011), learning is an interactive process between academics and students, not the interaction between IS (Web 2.0 technologies) and users (academics and students). Therefore, for effective communication to take place, students and academics require skills and technical support to contribute to management and monitoring of Web 2.0 technologies. For most Web 2.0 technologies (such as wikis, blogs and RSS), the users are basically in charge of providing service support to other users (Trkman and Trkman 2009). This means students and academics are mainly responsible for maintaining the service quality of Web 2.0 technologies in the TAL environment. More so, the attitude which they develop to its use will determine how they contribute, and what can and should be contributed (Trkman and Trkman 2009). Service quality is also important because it builds on all support that is presented to its users (Delone and Mclean 2003) and determines whether users of a system would retain its use or not.
Halonen, Acton, Golden and Conboy (2009) measured service quality by assessing interaction between the students and teachers (Holsapple and Lee-Post 2006). They pointed out that students were able to receive support, guidance and answers to their questions through interaction. From the TAL approach, we could infer that a weak interaction between academics and students and the Web 2.0 technologies could lead to lack of enthusiasm to study. It is therefore important to improve technology support services for TAL in universities to enhance academics and students‟ attitude and intentions to using Web 2.0 technologies.
Substansive literature is available about the impact of service quality in IS studies. However, most of the studies examined the impacts of service quality in system use, use intention or behaviour, and users‟ satisfaction. In agreement with Attia, Aziz and Friedman‟s (2012)
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assertion that attitudes affect behaviours towards a particular product, service or information, this study presumes that there is a relationship between attitude and behaviour of users. Thus, findings from the studies seem relevant to this study as the results can be implied for the relationship between service quality and users attitude towards use of Web 2.0 technologies.
For instance, Caldeira and Ward (2002), in their study on small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) in Portugal discovered that competency of support staff and vendor support affected system use. They further found that a positive association existed between service quality and system use.
Ham and Hayduk (2003) in a study in the US established that in the higher educational settings, there is a positive correlation between service quality and student satisfaction. Results from Hasan and Ilias (2008) confirmed that the service quality dimensions (tangibility, assurance, responsiveness, reliability and empathy) had a significant relationship with students‟
satisfaction in a two private universities in Malaysia. Lwoga (2013) emphasized the key role service quality plays in driving users‟ usage intention. Lwoga‟s (2013) study findings revealed that service quality (among other qualities such as information quality and system quality) had the strongest total effect on perceived net benefits and intention to reuse Library 2.0 (a Web 2.0 application used in libraries) among undergraduate university students in Tanzania. Ramayah and Lee (2012) in a study on the use of e-learning systems in Malaysia discovered that service quality (β = 0.30, p < 0.01) is positively related to continuance intention to use the system.
Lwoga (2014a) in another study in Tanzania identified technical support as one of the factors that predict students' continual usage intention of web-based learning content management systems. It was further stated that technical support for ICT is important for enhancing service quality.
In Tella‟s (2011) study, service quality was one of the factors that determined the success of implementing the Blackboard course management system for TAL at the University of Botswana. Although, service quality had a lower reliability co-efficient (r = 0.50) when compared to other quality constructs. Makokha (2011) in a survey to evaluate the success of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system from the users‟ perspective within Kenya found that service quality had a significant impact on use and user satisfaction. He further noted that wherever service quality is poor, the usage of the system is equally low and vice versa.
Ndanusa, Harada and Abdullateef (2014) also in a recent study attempted to gain a better
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insight of the dimensions that determined international students‟ perceptions of service quality in higher education (particularly Nigerian students in Malaysia Higher Education Institutions).
They discovered that improved service quality led to increased student satisfaction, which is largely influenced by the moderating effect of perceived value.
Many studies in the literature reviewed have reported similar findings, indicating that service quality plays significant role in determining use of IS. Nevertheless, Kositanurit, Ngwenyama and Osei-Bryson (2006) while surveying the users of ERP systems, found no association between service quality and system use. Similarly, a study of knowledge management systems by Halawi, McCarthy and Aronson (2007) established that service quality did not predict intention to use or use of an ICT system. However, reliable technical support can encourage students and academics to use Web 2.0 technologies for TAL purposes.
A critical review of IS studies indicated that most studies did not consider the relationship between service quality construct and users‟ attitude in their investigations. One of the few studies that examined the effect of service quality construct on attitude is Olatokun and Owoeye‟s (2012) study which found that service quality (β .127, p .003) significantly influenced the attitude of online banking users in Nigeria. It could be inferred that an enriched service quality would likewise stimulate users‟ attitude towards the system. It is assumed that service quality would play a significant role in motivating users‟ attitude towards use of Web 2.0 technologies in TAL. Hence, investigating on its influence is quite important to improve TAL practices. This study intend to fill this gap in literature and enrich the body of literature on factors that affect users‟ attitude by providing answers to research Question Three of this study (see section 1.2.2). One of the metrics used in measuring service quality is “Web 2.0 technologies provide reliable and prompt support for teaching/learning (responsiveness)”.