Technology acceptance model (TAM)

The purpose of this research is to explore the social media trend in communication in Kuwait by utilizing the technology acceptance model. Social media has been gaining extraordinary adoption in past years that requires further investigation into user’s adoption habits, the various kinds of social media, and its effect on their perceived usefulness and ease of use of social media. The study consists of a total of 250 participants that were asked to complete a questionnaire in a random sample. Important findings indicate that the highest number of participants uses Facebook, and the second highest number of participants use Twitter. In terms of usage habits, the highest number of participants uses social media for chatting and connecting with family and friends. The second highest number of participants uses social media for reading posts. In terms of perceived usefulness, the highest numbers of participants perceive social media as ‘usefulness’, and the second highest numbers of participants feel that ‘social media is faster’. In terms of perceived ease of use the highest numbers of participants feel that social media is an easy way to communicate, and the second highest numbers of participants feel that social media does not require a lot of effort. In terms of gender it has been evident that females feel higher perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of social media than males. The study bears theoretical and practical implications that show TAM can be successfully applied to examine social media in the context of Kuwait population. Furthermore, results of this study can be further generalized to neighboring GCC countries as they share similar geographic, economic, cultural, and financial factors.

This study aims to determine whether the perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness can significantly predict the students’ intention to use video conferencing applications in an online classroom. This study utilized a descriptive predictive quantitative research design. This study used the survey questionnaires adopted from the study of Salloum et al. (2019). The researchers conducted an online survey using Google form for over a month. Out of 153 target respondents, 130 responded to the survey questionnaire. Linear regression was initiated using JASP 0.16.0.0. The findings revealed that the two variables perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness can both significantly predict the students’ intention to use video conferencing applications in an online classroom. The results further showed that the perceived ease of use can better predict the students’ intention to use video conferencing applications in an online classroom as compared to perceived usefulness. The findings imply that video conferencing applications used in the teaching and learning process should be user-friendly and pedagogically relevant to support students’ desire to use video conferencing applications.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 up to at least the beginning of 2022, e-learning has largely replaced the face-to-face teaching method in Iran. Accepting web-based learning could be effective in the continuity of this method, at least in a hybrid one, even in normal circumstances. As such, the role of teachers’ perspectives in this regard should not be neglected. Due to the importance of this kind of technology in teaching a second language and the effect of teacher acceptance on the decision to use it, in this study, we examine 63 Persian as a Second language (PSL) teachers' acceptance of Web-based e-learning technology to explore the various factors that impact their intentions to use it. This study uses the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as the theoretical foundation. The survey data obtained from 63 PSL teachers through previously tested and validated questionnaires are analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling with AMOS. The results suggest that the perceived usefulness (PU) directly impacts behavioral intention (BI). Then, there is the motivation to use (MU) construct and the perceived ease of use (PEU), which could indirectly affect BI. The Internet self-efficacy (ISE) construct directly affects BI. Finally, the factor of computer anxiety has a negative effect on behavioral intentions to use web-based E-learning technologies through the factor of perceived ease of use. The research results show that perceived usefulness is the most influential factor in PSL teachers’ intention to use technology. It implies that PSL teachers would be more likely to continue to use Web-based E-learning technologies if they consider them useful.