A Cross Cultural Study of Factors Influencing the Adoption and Diffusion of Web-Based Educational Technology: A Comparative Study of New Zealand and Thai Tertiary Institutions

Abstract

This thesis examines factors that influence the adoption of web-based educational technology (WBET) in two countries: New Zealand and Thailand. It develops a new theoretical framework for a WBET Adoption Model for Tertiary Education (WAMTE). This WAMTE research model is developed from three integrated theories — Diffusion of Innovations (DOI), the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) — and the literature of factors influencing the adoption of different information systems and different educational technologies, as well as the results of the interviews in New Zealand and Thai institutions. This research consists of two phases. The first phase comprises qualitative research interviews to obtain in-depth information in order to establish a research model of the WAMTE. It involves 32 key informants from five universities in New Zealand and 22 key informants from 12 universities in Thailand. These interviews provide the necessary input for developing a research model and a survey instrument for the second phase. The second phase is quantitative research (a survey), designed to test the WAMTE research model and its associated hypotheses. A total of 2,156 respondents includes 210 New Zealand educators, 350 Thai educators, 649 New Zealand students, and 947 Thai students. The majority of respondents of each group, with the exception of the Thai students, used web-based instead of paper-based surveys. Of the respondents the majority of educators and students in both countries have adopted WBET. But the percentage of Thai educators and students who have adopted WBET is lower than that of educators and students in New Zealand. The findings of the survey reveal some similarities with only a few differences in influencing factors among the groups. Using the modified structural model for the educator groups, the similar influencing factors relate to attitudes toward adopting WBET (i.e. relative advantages, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and student demand), and respondents' IT skills. Factors that are less or not significant for both groups relate to perceived behavioural control (i.e. IT accessibility, quality, availability and cost). For the differences, the New Zealand educator group believe that factors related to the subjective norm (i.e. group influence from head of school/department, supervisors, colleagues, friends, and role model) have significant influence compared to the Thai educator group. However, factors relating to attitudes toward IT are more significant for the Thai educator group than the New Zealand group. For the student groups in both countries, factors relating to attitudes toward adopting WBET, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control directly influence the adoption of WBET, whereas factors relating to attitudes toward IT and user IT skills indirectly influence the adoption of WBET. However, perceived behavioural control factors of the Thai student group have significantly more influence compared to the New Zealand group. Using the ranking criteria, the ten most influential factors for both groups in New Zealand and Thailand relate to control beliefs (i.e. convenient access to IT, quality of computer and Internet access, adequate access to IT, cost of IT, institutional policy, and management support) and behavioural beliefs (i.e. relative advantage, complexity, student demand, and compatibility). However, there is little variation in the ranking order of these factors for these groups. Factors related to normative beliefs (group influence) have less influence in adopting WBET. The findings also reveal that the majority of respondents in each group in both countries have basic computer technology skills and positive attitudes toward IT. These affect their attitudes towards adopting WBET, which in turn influence the adoption and use of WBET. Key Words: web-based education technology, web technology, technology adoption, web adoption model, educational technology, tertiary institutions, education, influencing factors, cross-cultural studies, comparative studies, New Zealand, Thailand