Faculty adoption of Internet technology in Saudi Arabian universities.

摘要

The purpose of this study was to describe the adoption and use of Internet technologies by faculty members in Saudi Arabian universities. The study attempted to: (1) determine the pattern of Internet use by faculty members in Saudi Arabian universities, (2) answer specific questions about attributes that are associated with the Internet diffusion in Saudi Arabian universities and (3) identify faculty members, concerns about the Internet technology.; This study derived its theoretical frameworks mainly from the Rogers's model of diffusion of innovation (Rogers, 1995). Additionally this study is guided by the theoretical framework of the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) (Hall & Hord, 1987). Two central research questions guided the study: (1) What are the diffusion of innovation attributes that have exerted a role in the adoption and use of Internet technology by faculty members in Saudi Arabian universities? and (2) At what stages are Saudi Arabian faculty members in their concerns about using Internet technology (as measured by the Stages of Concern questionnaire)?; To obtain the necessary information to answer these questions, this study utilized a survey questionnaire. After the questionnaire was designed, revised, and pre-tested, it was distributed to 500 faculty members randomly selected in two Saudi universities. The researcher was able to collect 299 usable questionnaires, representing a 60% response rate. The collected data were coded and analyzed using SPSS package. Descriptive statistics (frequency distributions, percentages, and means) were calculated. The statistical t-test was employed to test the research hypotheses.; The study findings demonstrated that the five innovation attributes are significant factors in explaining the rate of Internet adoption by Saudi Arabian faculty. In conclusion this study provides a research-based assessment of faculty members adoption and use of Internet technology in Saudi Arabian universities. The overall findings indicate that the diffusion of Internet technology among faculty members in Saudi universities is at the early proliferation stages. The findings also indicate that the majority of respondents (74.6%) are using Internet technology. Later adopters, who reported using the Internet within two years or less from the data collection date (April, 2000), represent (68.6%) compared to (31.4%) of respondents reported using the Internet for more than two years. The research also reveals that a significant number of surveyed faculty members (25.4%) are reluctant to use Internet technology.