Effects of Studying Tasks Compatibility with Tablets on Their Acceptance

Abstract

This chapter addresses the issue of tablets acceptance for studying. An experiment was carried out to test the effects of specific studying tasks experienced by students with no previous experiences with tablets on the perceived usability and usefulness of tablets. Students had to perform a high-compatible task (i.e. navigation/reading task) and a low-compatible task (i.e. writing task) for tablets. Subjective measures of usability, usefulness and use intention were designed to be more specific to the type of task than the classical measures used in the Technology Acceptance Model approach (Davis, 1989). Participants rated their answers before and after performing the tasks with a tablet. The results showed that the perceived usability and usefulness of tablets increased after the high-compatible task while their decreased with the low-compatible task. The findings stressed the need to consider the real user experience and to use more task-oriented measures to investigate the acceptance of mobile devices for studying.