Students’ Uses and Gratifications for Using Computer-Mediated Communication Media in Learning Contexts

Abstract

Despite a growing stream of research into the use of computer-mediated communication (CMC) media in higher education, there remains limited understanding about the students' motivations for using CMC alongside non-CMC media within a learning context. This article identifies seven dimensions of motivation from the perspective of uses and gratifications (U&G), including information seeking, convenience, connectivity, problem solving, content management, social presence, and social context cues. It was found that each CMC satisfied different motivations for its use, and that overall CMC best fulfilled information seeking, convenience, connectivity, and content management motivations. This study also identifies a number of similarities and differences between CMC and non-CMC media in terms of the motivations for their use. Finally, the study concludes with a discussion of the implications for Information Systems (IS) researchers, higher education, and organizations.

From Love at First Sight to Soul Mate: The Influence of Romantic Ideals in Popular Films on Young People's Beliefs about Relationships

“…''), we concluded that Hypothesis 2 was partially supported. This is consistent with other research, in that the motivation to consume content for learning purposes is more influential on outcomes than mere media exposure (e.g., Guo, Tan, & Cheung, 2010). For example, Tiggemann (2005) found that viewing television with a motivation of social learning was a stronger predictor of reported body image concern among adolescents than was sheer amount of television exposure.…”

Adult learners' intention to adopt mobile learning: A motivational perspective

“…From the findings, adult learners are most likely to adopt m‐learning if the medium is able to support their interaction needs. Being a student and also working at the same time required them to expand connectivity, which allows them to connect and collaborate with other students (Guo et al , ). Besides that, adult learners' decision to adopt m‐learning is also strongly influenced by the ability of the medium to allow them to achieve personal fulfillment and a pleasant experience when using the medium.…”

“…Based on this theoretical lens, students' motivation to use a medium can be categorized into three main categories: (1) cognitive need, (2) social need and (3) affective need. Empirical evidence shows that these attributes can generally be applied to any media usage, including media technologies used in online learning context (Guo, Zhang & Stevens, ; Guo et al , ; Mondi et al , ). For instance, to fulfill cognitive needs, the tool (ie, m‐learning application) should be able to motivate adult learners to seek information—knowledge that is related to the course.…”

“…Students are more likely to have positive attitude toward adopting a medium if it is able to assist them in making a consensual meaning and co‐creating knowledge. A medium that is able to support across time and space communication is said to be able to fulfill students' social needs (Guo et al , ). Hence, based on the above discussions, the following hypothesis is proposed:…”

“…This theory has also been used to examine students' motivation to use technology for learning purposes. For instance, UGT was used to examine Internet adoption for distance learning (Stafford, ), the use of computer‐mediated communication media for learning purposes among university students (Guo, Tan & Cheung, ) and the use of virtual community as students' learning resources (Mondi, Woods & Rafi, ).…”