Maja Pusnik

Review: A meta-analysis of e-learning technology acceptance: The role of user types and e-learning technology types

Existing literature in the field of e-learning technology acceptance reflects a significant number of independent studies that primarily investigate the causal relationships proposed by technology acceptance theory, such as the technology acceptance model (TAM). To synthesize the existing knowledge in the field of e-learning technology acceptance, we have conducted a systematic literature review of 42 independent papers, mostly published in major journals. Furthermore, in order to view the research context by combining and analyzing the quantitative results of the reviewed research studies, a meta-analysis of the causal effect sizes between common TAM-related relationships was conducted. The main findings of this study, which is the first of its kind, are: (1) TAM is the most-used acceptance theory in e-learning acceptance research, and (2) the size of the causal effects between individual TAM-related factors depends on the type of user and the type of e-learning technology. The results of the meta-analysis demonstrated a moderating effect for user-related factors and technology-related factors for several evaluated causal paths. We have gathered proof that the perceived ease of use and the perceived usefulness tend to be the factors that can influence the attitudes of users toward using an e-learning technology in equal measure for different user types and types of e-learning technology settings.

Towards a Framework for Quality XML Schema Evaluation

Assuring quality IT solutions demands assuring quality in all aspects of software development process. For this we need well-formed methods with suitable metrics with which we can verify if a process, software product, software component, software artifact or other part of possible solution meets defined quality characteristics. XML Schemas and corresponding XML documents are becoming the most important software artifacts. Today we can find large number of software metrics which are mostly used for software products. Very little has been done in field of metrics for XML Schema specification, especially metrics for evaluating XML Schemas quality. In this paper we will analyze existing XML metrics and their usage and try to hand out preliminary proposal for XML Schema quality framework.

XML Schema metrics for quality evaluation

In XML Schema development, the quality of XML Schemas is a crucial issue for further steps in the life cycle of an application, closely correlated with the structure of XML Schemas and different building blocks. Current research focuses on measuring complexity of XML Schemas and mainly do not consider other quality aspects. This paper proposes a novel quality measuring approach, based on existing software engineering metrics, additionally defining quality aspect of XML Schemas in the following steps: (1) definition of six schema quality aspects, (2) adoption of 25 directly measurable XML Schema variables, (3) proposition of six composite metrics, applying 25 measured variables and (4) composite metrics validation. An experiment using 250 standard XML Schemas collected from available e-business information systems was conducted. The results illustrate influence of XML Schema characteristics on its quality and evaluate applicability of metrics in the measurement process, a useful tool for software developers while building or adopting XML Schemas.

Towards an e-business acceptance model: Identification of external factors

E-business has become a popular way of conducting business in the last decade or two, when economic and social world evolved through progress in Internet and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). In order to succeed, e-business solutions must meet different requirements of different stakeholders, and e-business solution developers and providers must understand which factors have a crucial impact on end users usage behaviour. The primary objective of this paper is to systematically identify and classify most important factors with a significant direct or indirect impact on end users decision whether he or she would accept and use a certain e-business technology. A practical outcome of this paper is a proposal for an e-business acceptance model, which could be used to better understand reasons, why certain e-business solutions have higher acceptance rate than other.

Usability evaluation of a library website with different end user groups

To ensure a certain degree of usability, a library website should be carefully designed, especially since end users constitute a multitude of people with different needs and demands. The focal objective of this research was to investigate how different types of end users (i.e. pupils, students, the working population, seniors and researchers) respond to a library website in terms of its effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction, which together represent its usability. The answers were obtained by performing formal usability testing, including think-aloud protocol, log analysis and questionnaires. The results of the statistical analysis show that different groups of end users achieve different levels of effectiveness and efficiency, while there is no significant difference between groups in satisfaction level. The results also indicate that participants did not achieve the threshold for a usable website. Based on the identified weaknesses, researchers present recommendations for improving a website’s usefulness, especially for non-experienced users. This research has two main contributions: (1) the connection between the theoretical definition and practical use of ISO 9241-11 attributes and (2) a usability testing procedure with a measurement framework applicable for different types of users in a specific domain, which could be applied to other domains.

Patterns for improving mobile user experience

Mobile telephone sales are achieving a constant growth on the global level as well as locally in Slovenia, where stores have a record of approximately fourfold increase of mobile device sales in the last 6 years. Accordingly, the development of mobile applications and services has also escalated, however, not every mobile application received the anticipated acceptance rate. The reason for poor success of mobile applications can be low user experience. The paper focuses on the concept of a mobile user experience definition and enhancement, addressing the questions (1) what is mobile user experience, (2) how to measure the mobile user experience and (3) how to improve the mobile user experience based on mobile design patterns. Results of a case study are included, recording the behavioural characteristics of 27 users using a mobile application for checking receipts, evaluating its ease of use, usefulness and other users needs and requirements.

Design and development of contactless interaction with computers based on the Emotiv EPOC+ device

Devices and methods for interaction with a computer do not change very often. However, with technology advancements, solutions for new ways of human-computer interaction are possible. Especially for physically disabled users, solutions for contactless interaction with a device promise new possibilities for independent computer use and management. In this study a solution for a contactless interaction with a computer was proposed based on a brain-computer interface (BCI) device Emotiv EPOC+. The EPOC+ device is able to detect brain signals, facial expressions or levels of engagement (e.g. frustration, mediation, etc.), eye movement and head position through the built-in gyroscope sensors. The contactless interaction solution proposed in this study was based on (1) mapping facial expressions into user interface commands, (2) head-movement detection for controlling the mouse cursor, and (3) a virtual keyboard, which was developed to enable text input. The proposed solution was tested in a quasi-experimental setting, where non-disabled users had to complete several computer tasks. After completing the tasks, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of the proposed solution were assessed. At the end, limitations and future work are discussed.

Towards the XML schema measurement based on mapping between XML and OO domain

Measuring quality of IT solutions is a priority in software engineering. Although numerous metrics for measuring object-oriented code already exist, measuring quality of UML models or XML Schemas is still developing. One of the research questions in the overall research leaded by ideas described in this paper is whether we can apply already defined object-oriented design metrics on XML schemas based on predefined mappings. In this paper, basic ideas for mentioned mapping are presented. This mapping is prerequisite for setting the future approach to XML schema quality measuring with object-oriented metrics.

Investigation of moderator factors in e-business adoption : a quantitative meta-analysis of moderating effects on the drivers of intention and behavior

E-business technology is becoming one of the most important global markets where e-business solutions will have to adapt to new technologies. The main objective in this study was to synthesize existing knowledge in the field of e-business technology acceptance and to understand differences in Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) related causal effect sizes for different e-business contexts. A quantitative meta-analysis of existing empirical research about factors affecting e-business adoption was conducted using 89 published papers that provided empirical data about causal relationships. A moderator analysis was carried out to investigate the moderating effect of four factors: consumer type, device type, continent and respondent type. The results of the study showed a moderating effect for all four proposed factors in almost all TAM-related causal paths. The study also showed that TAM is the most common theory being applied in e-business adoption research.

Integration of RIS and PACS for Efficient Knowledge Management in Healthcare – a Case in Slovenia

Contemporary information and communication technology is accelerating development of new and innovative ways for disseminating and sharing health information and knowledge between different healthcare institutions and users. Lately, several initiatives and technology innovations were introduced in the field of medical informatics. Researchers and practitioners are investing a lot of time and effort in research and development of standards for interoperable healthcare knowledge delivery and efficient healthcare KM. There are several challenges related to the healthcare KM that have to be addressed such as complexity and interoperability of healthcare information systems, impact of medical errors, patients’ data security, etc. In this paper, a case of integration of the RIS/PACS system with existing information systems in health centre Velenje is presented. Additionally, implementation of the teleradiology is presented together with an analysis of its impact on the radiology practice and cost savings.