Context and technology use: Opportunities and challenges of the situated perspective in technology acceptance research

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore the implications of the situative perspective in understanding technology acceptance. Briefly, this is the position that holds technology acceptance is influenced by the context of use, which determines the situations and activities in which the technology is employed. Specifically, we review the literature studying the relationship between political engagement and social media use. We examine the link between individuals' political beliefs and political engagement on their acceptance and use of social media extending the core factors of the technology acceptance model. Using a sample drawn from a pre‐university college physics program, we test a structural path model, using WarpPLS, and reproduce the oft‐reported link between social media use and political engagement and showing that social media use for political engagement influences individuals' perceptions of social media technology. These results are interpreted with respect to the situative perspective, specifically, we employ the ecological psychology notion of affordances to understand how social media technology is disrupting traditional political discourse and creating new forum for public discourse and political engagement. Our study demonstrates the value of considering the social dimension in understanding individuals' technology acceptance decisions and behaviors. Understanding the social dimension pf technology acceptance is necessary for modeling user technology acceptance and key to successful implementation initiatives and life cycle management of educational technologies. Practitioner NotesWhat is already known about this topic Using social media varies by individual characteristics and by instrumental use, creating different contexts of use, such as online political engagement. What this paper adds Using social media for political engagement influences perceptions of usefulness and ease of use. A fuller account of technology acceptance must include social and affective determinants in addition to cognitive factors. Implications for practice and/or policy Understanding technology acceptance as a social process requires an account of the purposes and functions of technology within spheres of activity. Thus, understanding the social dimension of technology acceptance appears key area of research for educational technologists working on implementation and life‐cycle management of educational technologies.

Can digital technologies improve students' efficiency? Exploring the role of Virtual Learning Environment and Social Media use in Higher Education

“…Building on technology adoption theories, one stream of research explored determinants towards adoption and subsequent use of digital tools by HE students and staff alike (e.g. Lemay et al,2019;Garone et al,2019;Shen & Hi, 2020;Khechine et al,2020). As VL and SM became a norm in HE, research attention moved towards an exploration of consequences of the use of those digital tools.…”

Understanding the Mechanism of Social Attachment Role in Social Media: A Qualitative Analysis

“…Social media has nowadays played a decisive role in human progress and daily life of people. Throughout history, in the relevant fields of economic, social, and political development, the interaction between humans and social media results in many potential applications, which not only strengthens economic progress, but also becomes a powerful tool for human development (Ahmed et al, 2019;Lemay et al, 2019;Chen et al, 2020). However, the low conversion cost of social media during the interaction process poses a challenge for users to attach to the continuous use of social media and hinders the positive impact and progress of social media on human development.…”

Online Learning Communities in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Social Learning Network Analysis of Twitter During the Shutdown

“…As an exploratory study of social learning networks on the Twitter platform, we believe the present study serves instrumentally to demonstrate the value of social network analysis methodologies to study the social graph of knowledge creation and dissemination in online social media platforms. Given the democratizing effects of online access to information [30], we call on researchers to extend the study of online learning environments to informal learning networks emergent on social media, and other non-conventional learning environments afforded by new information and communication technologies [31][32]. Study of social learning networks can describe the social processes underpinning shared knowledge construction.…”