The Integrated Self-Determination and Self-Efficacy Theories of ICT Training and Use: The Case of the Socio-Economically Disadvantaged

Basic ICT and Internet skills are becoming necessary for individuals to have meaningful engagement across various life domains. However, mastering basic ICT skills is not a trivial task especially for those socio-economically disadvantaged. This research develops an integrated self-determination and self- efficacy theories to examine the influence of self-determined motivation on ICT training outcomes and subsequent ICT acceptance with an emphasis on Internet skill development and usage. The context of the study is the Thai community technology centers supported by the Microsoft Unlimited Potential grants. The results suggest that individuals who have higher self-determined motivation to participate in ICT training programs are more likely to develop Internet computer self-efficacy, positive training satisfaction, and strong usage intention. In other words, attitudes towards ICT acceptance are shaped even before individuals enter training programs. Implications for research and practice are discussed

The Bottom-up and Horizontal Spillovers of Quality of Life from Continued ICT Use: The Case of Community Technology Centers

The ability to access and create knowledge through the use of ICT is critical in the global information society. ICT use should enhance a process of social inclusion by enabling individuals to fully participate in society across a variety of domains related to health, education, recreation, and culture, among others. However, not everyone has access to ICTs. Recently, community technology centers have developed to be an appealing solution to promote social inclusion. Following the social inclusion framework, this research examines how continued ICT use improves quality of life (QoL) with particular emphasis on the extent of bottom-up spillover effects from domain QoL to overall QoL and horizontal spillover effects among various domain QoL. The context of our study is the Thai community technology centers supported by the Microsoft Unlimited Potential grants. The results suggest that (1) the bottom-up spillover and the horizontal spillover effects simultaneously contribute to the overall QoL, (2) the satisfaction from continued use of ICT contributes to domain QoL and domain QoL, particularly the family, self, and community domains, contributes to overall QoL, and (3) the horizontal spillover effects exhibit complex relationships that involve direct one-to-one spillover effects, domain interaction effects, and reciprocal spillover effects. The work, education, leisure, and community domains influence QoL in other domains. Implications for research and practice are discussed

IS Use and Quality of Life: A Conceptualization and Empirical Investigation

The nature of IS use and its impacts in everyday life settings are not yet well understood. Drawing on quality of life theory and evidence from the IS acceptance and IS impacts research, this study conceptualizes the relationship between IS use and quality of life as a process that involves vertical and horizontal spillover effects. We empirically investigate this relationship in the context of basic IT use among socio-economically disadvantaged individuals. The research participants received their initial basic IT skill training from community technology centers. The context of our study is the Thai community technology centers supported by Microsoft Unlimited Potential grants. The results strongly support that there are vertical spillover and horizontal spillover mechanisms that relate IS use to domain-specific quality of life and overall quality of life. Implications for research and practice are discussed