Computer self-efficacy, anxiety and attitudes towards use of technology among university academicians: a case study of University of Port Harcourt Nigeria

The 21st century also called ICT literacy includes not only the traditional concept of literacy, but it also encompasses the ability to incorporate new technologies into teaching and learning. The paper focus on computer, self-efficacy, anxiety and attitudes towards use of technology, as it influence the behavioral intention of the university academicians to accept and use ICT for teaching and learning. The University of Port Harcourt Nigeria was use as a case study, and 100 questionnaires were administered and collected. The technology usage by the academic staff shows that 74% are willing to use ICT once or more a day. 51% of the respondents said that the use of ICT is voluntary. Three null hypotheses were stated. The findings shows that the Uniport academic staff had medium computer anxiousness, they have moderate computer self efficacy and high attitudes towards use of technology. Therefore, as attitudes towards use of technology increase, computer self efficacy also increase and this cause a gradual decrease in computer anxiety. The most influential construct is attitudes towards use of technology. This was determined by the regression analysis and the hypotheses. The knowledge gained from this study is beneficial to university administrators, academic staff and the Nigerian ICT policy makers

Evaluating Students’ Learning Experiences Using Course Management System in a Blended Learning

One of the major software used in today’s classroom are Course Management Systems (CMS). There is currently little research regarding the learning experience of students using CMS like Moodle in a blended learning environment. Effective learning environments give students a chance to learn better and faster. Understanding the students’ learning experience in a blended course using a CMS is the first step to determine how to best engage students. It assumes that good learning environments are achieved through three factors which are Cognitive Presence, Teaching Presence, and Social Presence. This study used a set of questionnaire to evaluate students’ learning experience for 107 students in blended learning. Correlation analysis has been used to find the relationship between Cognitive Presence, Teaching Presence, Social Presence and learning experience of students who use CMS in blended learning. The findings of this research study show that there is a significant correlation among Cognitive Presence, Teaching Presence, Social Presence and the overall learning experience using Moodle in blended learning. However, the level of Social Presence is lower in comparison with Teaching Presence and Cognitive Presence

Microblogging in higher education: a comparative study

Microblogging has become an increasingly popular phenomenon in educational context. There is currently little research regarding the educational advantages of microblogging dedicated to teaching and learning. Although educational microblogging provides great learning applications that can support formal learning environment, the advantages of these websites are oftentimes ignored. In order to investigate the largely unexplored benefits of educational microblogging, this research offers an opportunity to investigate the effect of microblogging using Community of Inquiry (CoI) model in a blended learning. The researchers used pre-questionnaire and post-questionnaire for evaluating the level of students' teaching, social and cognitive presence before and after using microblogging based on the CoI model. The questionnaires were distributed in two classes of 107 students in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Through statistical analysis by using t-test analysis, the usage of microblogging is proven to enhance students' cognitive, social and teaching presence. The results of this research offer an insight to the positive impact of the use of microblogging in higher education and its outcomes would open the door to new ways of learning and the nature of cooperative culture and new application tools

CAPBLAT Development and Testing: Computer-Assisted Assessment Tool for Problem Based Learning

Recent years, Computer-Assisted Assessment (CAA) has become increasingly important in education. This is indicated by many researches that focused on the development of computer-based assessment tool to help assess performances of students from various disciplines. This study contributes to education area with the research on the development of innovative computer-based tool for Problem-Based Learning (PBL) assessment. A web-based assessment tool, named CAPBLAT, has been developed. The tool incorporates some methods of PBL assessment process which framed within “Problem-Based Learning Assessment Framework”. The tool has been created for evaluating students’ achievements on the PBL approach. This paper presents the development and user acceptance test of the CAPBLAT. The study utilizes the tool within two PBL classes as a medium for testing in the duration of one semester. A total of forty students participated in the testing of the tool. During the study, questionnaires were administered to students. The results concerning the assessment tool acceptance demonstrate that students showed positive feedback and accepted the usage of CAPBLAT for the PBL assessment process. It is also proved that the use of CAA in PBL gives advantages for both of lecturers and students by providing them with detailed formative feedback on their learning achievements compared to conventional assessment. It also reduces lecturer’s tedious load by automating parts of the task of marking students’ work

The history of UTAUT model and its impact on ICT acceptance and usage by academicians

This paper started with the review of the history of technology acceptance model from TRA to UTAUT. The expected contribution is to bring to lime light the current development stage of the technology acceptance model. Based on this, the paper examined the impact of UTAUT model on ICT acceptance and usage in HEIs. The UTAUT model theory was verified using regressions analysis to understand the behavioral intention of the ADSU academic staffs’ acceptance and use of ICT in their workplace. The research objective is to measure the most influential factors for the acceptance and usage of ICT by ADSU academic staff and to identify the barriers. Two null hypotheses were stated: (1) the academic staff of ADSU rejects acceptance and usage of ICT in their workplace. (2) UTAUT does not predict the successful acceptance of ICT by the academic staff of the Adamawa State University. In summary, our findings shows that the four constructs of UTAUT have significant positive influence and impact on the behavioral intention to accept and use ICT by the ADSU academic staff. This shows that university academic staff will intend to use ICT that they believe will improve their job performance and are easy to use. The facilitating conditions such as appropriate hardware, software, training and support should be in place by the management. In the Adamawa State University, EE and SI are found to be the most influential predictors of academic staff acceptance of ICT and use among the four constructs of UTAUT. The greatest barriers are time and technical support for staff. Knowledge gained from the study is beneficial to both the university academic staff and the Nigerian ICT policy makers

A Review on Knowledge Audit Process

Knowledge audit output helps organizations to make recommendation of KM strategy which later can be used for better managing the knowledge. This paper reviews literature on knowledge audit process with the aim to understand the process, the data gathering techniques employed and the roles of knowledge audit. It aims to report the research gaps and propose directions for future research in this domain. A comprehensive three-stage method for extracting, analyzing and reporting the literature-based findings was applied in analyzing the literature survey. The literature survey is based on a search for the keywords “knowledge audit”, “knowledge audit process”, “knowledge audit output” and “knowledge audit roles”, first on the ISI Web of Knowledge online database, followed by Association of Information Systems basket of top journals and other reputable literatures. The paper concludes with an understanding on how knowledge audit is conducted, the data gathering techniques used and its contributions to the organization. However no literature was found on knowledge audit practices for inter-organization. Future research on how knowledge audit could be extended for inter-organization is suggested at the end of the paper. However, this paper only covers literature that discussed in depth the knowledge audit process published in certain journals. Never the less, it is believed that the findings provide a valuable understanding of the current situation in this research field

CAPBLAT Development and Testing: Computer-Assisted Assessment Tool for Problem Based Learning

Recent years, Computer-Assisted Assessment (CAA) has become increasingly important in education. This is indicated by many researches that focused on the development of computer-based assessment tool to help assess performances of students from various disciplines. This study contributes to education area with the research on the development of innovative computer-based tool for Problem-Based Learning (PBL) assessment. A web-based assessment tool, named CAPBLAT, has been developed. The tool incorporates some methods of PBL assessment process which framed within “Problem-Based Learning Assessment Framework”. The tool has been created for evaluating students' achievements on the PBL approach. This paper presents the development and user acceptance test of the CAPBLAT. The study utilizes the tool within two PBL classes as a medium for testing in the duration of one semester. A total of forty students participated in the testing of the tool. During the study, questionnaires were administered to students. The results concerning the assessment tool acceptance demonstrate that students showed positive feedback and accepted the USAge of CAPBLAT for the PBL assessment process. It is also proved that the use of CAA in PBL gives advantages for both of lecturers and students by providing them with detailed formative feedback on their learning achievements compared to conventional assessment. It also reduces lecturer's tedious load by automating parts of the task of marking students' work

Enhancing the graduates’ employability and career development through building information modelling intensive training

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is an emerging technological process which highly promotes a better collaborative working environment in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. It is essential that the Higher Education (HE) sector innovates its education system to integrate between different disciplines in the AEC industry to encourage the adoption of BIM. In conjunction with this, BIM Intensive Training was conducted for a selected number of final year undergraduate students at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. They were assigned a real time construction project, utilizing BIM software applications for model authoring, model review, 4D modelling and project coordination. It was observed that the participants were able to overcome various challenges through information sharing and team collaboration. A BIM coordination workflow was produced during the training to assist them in organizing their work. Although their existing knowledge of BIM and their skills using the software applications were quite limited, they were capable in learning expeditiously as the assignment provided them with real-world problems. A year after the training, more than half of the participants agreed that the training had helped them to secure their employment and excel in their current involvements in BIM-based projects. However, due to the current scenario many firms are yet to embrace BIM, there are participants who could not utilize the training. Hence, the establishment of a dynamic and continuous collaboration between professionals and HE sector is the way forward in transforming the traditional structure of AEC industry into a more collaborative and technological approach

Benefits or risks: what influences novice drivers regarding adopting smart cars?

Level 4 autonomous vehicles (AVs) are smart vehicles that can move between two different points without any human interference. In 2018, the Saudi Arabian ban on female drivers was finally lifted, resulting in a large number of novice women drivers of different ages. The Kingdom might therefore be considered a risky place to drive, but AVs would help novices to reduce their fear of driving and reduce accidents. Previous studies focused narrowly on those who already had sufficient driving experience and held a valid driving license, but there were no studies on the adoption of smart cars by novice drivers. Based on a literature search, no studies had used a net valence model (NVM) for the adoption of AVs to understand their benefits/risks. Therefore, this study proposed an adoption model for AVs using an NVM to identify the benefit and risk factors that have an impact on beginner drivers’ adoption of autonomous vehicles. A survey method was applied using the purposive sampling technique. Data were collected from 1400 female Saudi novice drivers who had experience with driving AVs. Data analysis was performed using Smart PLS Version 3. The results showed that individuals tended to ignore potential risks and focus instead on the potential benefits of using AVs. Performance expectancy, enjoyment, and effort expectancy were found to be positively related to the perceived advantages. On the other hand, the perceived risk as a construct did not have an impact on beginner drivers’ adoption of autonomous vehicles. Therefore, the major theoretical contribution of this study was the formation of a new NVM model by incorporating three more constructs, which were social influence, personal innovativeness, and alternatives. Finally, the enhanced NVM model could assist AV developers in identifying the expected benefits and drawbacks of AV adoption