E-learning in a low-status female profession: the role of motivation, anxiety and social support in the learning divide

Abstract   The literature seems to suggest that women may be at risk from being excluded from adult education programmes, which use e-learning, especially when they have low economic status. Based on a survey of 551 women, family day care providers, we conclude that there is a persistent divide in PC access and use, as well as in perceived PC skills according to age. Yet, this divide seems to run less along traditional lines, suggesting that personal factors play a more important role. Motivation and anxiety are two related but distinct personal factors that influence computer use and skills in this population. We also found that these factors are mediated by the family context: motivation is higher when (young) children are present in the family. Moreover, children may represent an important form of social support for women not yet using computers. This study concludes that the concerns about the gender gap in computer use may benefit from taking the scaffolding possibilities of the family into consideration and that there may be a case for growing optimism in the use of information and communication technology for adult learning in specific, gender-segregated professions with low status.     

Tackling social inequality in development: beyond access to appropriation of ICTs for employability

ABSTRACT

This study was motivated to investigate social inequality in developed nations, by studying the impact of ICTs upon the vulnerable unemployed and under-employed in Singapore. First, drawing upon Amartya Sen’s capability approach, we operationalize the dependent variable as self-perceived employability, conceptualized as both a measure of well-being and a livelihood capability. Secondly, we used Neil Selwyn’s digital divide hierarchical impact assessment framework, to define and measure the ICT assets of access, usage, and appropriation. Primary data was gathered from 302 under-employed and unemployed workers in Singapore, a developed Asian economy. Regression analyses revealed that higher-order hierarchies of ICT usage and appropriation were associated with the dependent variable of employability, while access was not. We discuss the implications for development discourse in regions with ubiquitous access, advocating for policymakers to focus on ICT training. Further, we offer nuanced findings on vulnerability in developed economies as an enhancement to mainstream ICT4D scholarship, focused exclusively on poverty in developing countries.     

A model of e-commerce adoption (MOCA): consumer's perceptions and behaviours

The paper analyses factors that usually influence the adoption of online commerce, focusing in particular on how social influence acts in this process considering in particular an Italian sample. It investigates about the actual transaction behaviour, and not just the intention to shop online. Starting from analysing technology acceptance models of literature, the paper proposes and empirically validates a new model for e-commerce adoption. A self-administered survey approach was used to collect data from a sample of different ages, genders and educational levels by using a structured questionnaire. Empirical data were analysed using correlation and regression analysis. Results showed that social influence, usability and perceived usefulness are predictors of the frequency of use and then, of e-commerce adoption. The paper gives both a theoretical and an empirical contribution to the e-commerce literature by designing and testing a model for predicting online consumers’ behaviour and enhancing the e-commerce adoption understanding.     

Understanding mobile SNS continuance usage in China from the perspectives of social influence and privacy concern

Retaining users and facilitating continuance usage are crucial to the success of mobile social network services (SNS). This research examines the continuance usage of mobile SNS in China by integrating both the perspectives of social influence and privacy concern. Social influence includes three processes: compliance, identification and internalization, which are respectively represented by subjective norm, social identity, and group norm. The results indicate that these three factors and privacy concern have significant effects on continuance usage. The results suggest that service providers should address the issues of social influence and privacy concern to encourage mobile SNS continuance usage.     

Narrowing the age-based digital divide: Developing digital capability through social activities

Healthcare information technologies (HIT) have shown great potential for improving the effectiveness and quality of healthcare services. However, the inequal ability of older adults to use HIT may limit their exploitation of these benefits. To narrow the age-based “digital divide”, this research further develops the concept of digital capability and emphasises the link between older adults and their social context. Based on a qualitative inductive study of 33 participants, who included Chinese patients and their family members, we generate a novel theoretical model for understanding the process by which social activities may shape older adults' digital capabilities. Based on the model, we suggest two strategies that might encourage older adults to engage with HIT. This research contributes to the information systems (IS) literature by strengthening digital capability as a conceptual lens to investigate individuals' engagement with information communication technologies (ICTs). It also extends research on the social context for ICT use by revealing how social processes at multiple levels influence digital capability development. Finally, this study offers practical implications for governments and private sectors to encourage and promote ICT use by older adults.     

The new digital divide: the confluence of broadband penetration,sustainable development,technology adoption and community participation

There have been significant efforts during the last years to define indicators to estimate the digital divide among nations, regions and social groups. The first attempts considered are mainly parameters of technical nature related with access to computers and Internet connectivity. Though these technical parameters gave an initial indication of the magnitude of the digital divide, they did not provide a complete picture of its dimension and context. In this paper, we propose that grass roots participation and integrating socioeconomic development with human values and taking advantage of the advent of emerging mobile wireless and efficient broadband technologies play a significant role in redefining the nature of the digital divide. The understanding of the new paradigm of broadband penetration, sustainable development, technology adoption and community participation is fundamental to develop national plans and agendas for digital inclusion, particularly in rural and underserved populations contexts.     

Comparing marginal effects of Chilean students' economic,social and cultural status on digital versus reading and mathematics performance

This paper provides evidence that helps understand the digital divide in education. It does so by comparing the effect of economic, social and cultural status (ESCS) on the digital skills of Chilean students compared with mathematics and language. This comparison is made using national standardized tests. The marginal effect of a group of variables measuring student ESCS was compared both as a whole and separately using multivariate linear regression analysis. The results show that the marginal effect of ESCS as a whole on students' digital skills was equal to the effect on mathematics and greater than the effect on language. Furthermore, the results show that the parents' level of education was the most relevant factor of ESCS for explaining student performance on the digital test, more so than for mathematics and language. These findings challenge the belief that the Internet would reduce economic, social and cultural inequalities in new generations. Instead, they reveal that the gap among Chilean students tends to perpetuate or widen when comparing performance in mathematics and language with performance in the digital domain. At the same time, by comparing national test results, this paper offers empirical evidence for the existence of a second digital divide in the field of education, a concept which is widely discussed at a theoretical level but with little empirical support to date.     

社会网络中的影响力最大化问题

影响力最大化问题要求在网络中选取若干节点,使得以它们为初始节点进行信息传播时,在网络中产生的影响能够达到最大。影响力最大化问题是近十年来社会网络中的研究热点之一,其研究不仅具有理论意义,并且还具有应用前景。介绍了影响力最大化问题产生的背景,分析了问题的研究现状、研究用的几种主要传播模型以及解决问题的几种主要算法。最后,讨论了该研究面临的一些问题,对未来可能发展的研究方向进行了展望。     

Understanding e‐Government portal use in rural India: role of demographic and personality characteristics

Electronic government (e‐Government) is one of the most important ways to bridge the digital divide in developing countries. We develop a model of e‐Government portal use. We use various individual characteristics, namely demographics and personality, as predictors of e‐Government portal use. Specifically, our predictors were (1) gender, age, income and education; (2) the Big Five personality characteristics, i.e. extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, agreeableness and openness to experience; and (3) personal innovativeness with information technology. We conducted a field study in a village in India. We collected data from over 300 heads of household. We found support for our model, with most variables being significant and explaining 40% of the variance in e‐Government portal use.     

The social influence of online collaborative community: the moderating effect of achievement

Online collaborative communities become particularly influential in contemporary Internet economy. However, these communities are often characterised by limited liability. Following the perspective of social influence, this study examines the impacts of three social influence modes in online collaborative communities of a famous online game. The moderating role of a player’s game achievement is also explored. Our results show that community identification is the most influential on online game continuance intention, especially for high achievement players. Community value congruence is likely to affect online game continuance intention for low achievement players. The impact of community normative influence on online game continuance intention appears to be curvilinear. This is more obvious for low achievement players. Implications for research and practice are also discussed.     

Constraints on E-commerce in Less Developed Countries: The Case of China

We suggest a revised framework based on Michael Porter's Diamond of National Competitive Advantage that can be applied in examining development of e-commerce in less-developed countries. This incorporates cross-industry institutions and networks as key determinants of national competitive advantage. Using this framework we show that China has made significant progress in building the technical infrastructure and regulatory framework for e-commerce. However, it suffers still from poorly developed institutions and social networks. These are crucial in moving into the second phase of development of electronic commerce where the technologies are integrated into existing industries.     

Persuasive messages on information system acceptance: A theoretical extension of elaboration likelihood model and social influence theory

Firms invest millions of dollars in the introduction of new information systems for long-term benefit. If employees are not willing to accept a new information system, such investments may be wasted. Employee acceptance of a new information system is in part determined by external influences. However, previous research has neglected the paths of persuasive strategies and external social influences on information system acceptance. Linkages between persuasive strategies and external social influences are also scarce. By integrating social influence theory and an elaboration likelihood model, this study explores the influence of persuasive messages (source credibility and argument quality) on social influence, affective response and cognitive response. This study also investigates the interrelationships among affective response, cognitive response and behavior intention. Furthermore, the moderating roles of social influences on the impact of affective response and cognitive response on behavior intention are identified.     

Consumer's decision to shop online: The moderating role of positive informational social influence

While much of the current literature tends to focus on the direct effect of social influence on consumer online shopping behavior, our study drew heavily on social influence theory and argued for an alternative theory focusing on the moderating role of social influence. In particular, we explored how positive messages in online discussion forums may affect consumers’ decisions to shop online. We used a laboratory experiment in which the treatment group was required to read positive messages about online shopping experience in an online discussion forum. Positive social influence was found to reinforce the relationship between beliefs about and attitude toward online shopping, as well as the relationship between attitude and intention to shop. We believe our alternative theory provides new insight into the complex processes through which social influence is brought to bear on consumers’ online shopping decisions. Implications of our work are discussed.     

Examining the ICT access effect on socioeconomic development: the moderating role of ICT use and skills

This paper examines the role that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) play in the socioeconomic development of countries. The proposed model analyzes the relationship between ICT access (available ICT infrastructure and individual’s access to ICT), ICT use (ICT intensity and usage, and ICT skills), and socioeconomic development. The methodology employed consists of a Structural Equation Model (SEM). To achieve this goal, country-level data across 163 countries for the year 2013 is used from developing to developed countries. Results obtained indicate the moderating role of ICT use and skills in the relationship between ICT access and the socioeconomic development. The ICT usage and ICT skills enhance the effect of ICT access on the socioeconomic development. The model is robust with respect to the development level.     

Adoption of travel information in user-generated content on social media: the moderating effect of social presence

Travel patterns have gradually changed from group travel to individual travel. An increasing number of people acquire travel information through various types of media. One of the alternative information sources is social media, which enables users to exchange information among members. However, one of the characteristics of social media is information sharing, not information search, which involves both giving (i.e. posting) and taking (i.e. selective reading, forwarding, replying, linking, and liking) information. Compared to the ‘giving’ side of information-sharing research, less effort has been spent on the ‘taking’ side of information research. Therefore, we investigate travel information adoption in social media as well as how individuals communicate with each other. We use the elaboration likelihood model, which measures the impact of central (e.g. argument quality) and peripheral (e.g. credibility) cues on traveller information-sharing behaviour corresponding with social presence on social media. The results of an empirical analysis of 527 respondents, who were experienced in travel information adoption via social media, were examined. Our findings revealed that argument quality had a positive effect on perceived usefulness and source credibility positively affected perceived usefulness and social relationships. Perceived usefulness had a significant positive effect on social relationships. Both perceived usefulness and social relationships affected travel information adoption. Lastly, the levels of argument quality and source credibility perceived by social media members were found to differ according to the level of social presence.     

The temporal aspects of the evidence-based influence maximization on social networks†

The influence maximization problem selects a set of seeds to initiate an optimal cascade of decisions. This paper uses parallel cascade evidence-based diffusion modelling, which views influence as a consequence of the evidence exchange between the connected actors, to investigate the temporal aspects of the social cascade propagation and effective time horizon for long-term campaign planning. Mixed-integer programming is used to explore the optimal timing of evidence injection and the ensuing network behaviour. The paper defines the notion of mid-term and long-term cascade stability and analyses the dynamics of social cascades for varied evidence discount factor values. This exploration reveals that the time horizon setting affects the optimal placement of seeds in a given problem and, hence, has to be set in a way to reflect the decision-maker's short-term or long-term goals. A Cplex-based heuristic algorithm is developed to iteratively find such a preferable cascade stability time horizon. Moreover, a conducted fractional factorial experiment reveals that the forgetfulness effect and the presence of competition significantly affect the cascade persistence. Somewhat counter-intuitively, it is discovered that a strong positive evidence can become more persistent (long-lasting) in the presence of weak opposing evidence.     

Images of self and others as computer users: the role of gender and experience

Abstract Gender differences in the pursuit of technology careers are a current issue of concern. We report on two studies that use surveys, drawings and interviews to examine sixth- and eighth-grade students' perceptions of knowledgeable computer users and their self-perception as a computer-type person. In Study 1, participants were asked to generate representations of computer users in pictures or words. The results indicate that the majority of representations were of male users and they frequently wore glasses. Students of both genders were more likely to draw males. Eighth-grade students' representations included more stereotypical features than those of sixth-grade students. In Study 2, students were asked whether they believed that there was such a thing as a computer-type person and whether they perceived themselves to be one. Eighty per cent of students rejected this characterization. They differed from students who accepted it in their levels of past experience, their confidence, and the probability that they shared their knowledge with others. The results of both studies suggest that while there is a male image of computer science in general, it is not overly negative and students' self-perception is not governed by their own gender as much as by other variables.     

Peers matter: The moderating role of social influence on information security policy compliance

Information security in an organization largely depends on employee compliance with information security policy (ISP). Previous studies have mainly explored the effects of command‐and‐control and self‐regulatory approaches on employee ISP compliance. However, how social influence at both individual and organizational levels impacts the effectiveness of these two approaches has not been adequately explored. This study proposes a social contingency model in which a rules‐oriented ethical climate (employee perception of a rules‐adherence environment) at the organizational level and susceptibility to interpersonal influence (employees observing common practices via peer interactions) at the individual level interact with both command‐and‐control and self‐regulatory approaches to affect ISP compliance. Using employee survey data, we found that these two social influence factors weaken the effects of both command‐and‐control and self‐regulatory approaches on ISP compliance. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.     

Connected scholars: Examining the role of social media in research practices of faculty using the UTAUT model

Social media has become mainstream in recent years, and its adoption has skyrocketed. Following this trend among the general public, scholars are also increasingly adopting these tools for their professional work. The current study seeks to learn if, why and how scholars are using social media for communication and information dissemination, as well as validate and update the results of previous scholarship in this area. The study is based on the content analysis of 51 semi-structured interviews of scholars in the Information Science and Technology field. Unlike previous studies, the current work aims not only to highlight the specific social media tools used, but also discover factors that influence intention and use of social media by scholars. To achieve this, the paper uses the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), a widely adopted technology acceptance theory. This paper contributes new knowledge to methodological discussions as it is the first known study to employ UTAUT to interpret scholarly use of social media. It also offers recommendations about how UTAUT can be expanded to better fit examinations of social media use within scholarly practices.