The internet as an information source vs. level of satisfaction: Users' learning styles, perceptions, emotions and regression model at National Institutes of Technology in India

Abstract

An attempt has been made to promote and optimize the use of the Internet as an information Source among engineering faculty and research scholars of National Institutes of Technology (NITs) in India. A total of 850 questionnaires and interview schedules were distributed to the faculty and research scholars of NITs in India, 665 questionnaires were duly obtained with a response rate of 78.24%. An attempt has been made to develop an instrument of acceptance of Internet technology known as Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) among faculty and Research scholars of National Institutes of Technology (NITs) in India using the original constructs i.e. Perceived Usefulness as â the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would enhance his or her job performanceâ , and Perceived Ease of Use as â the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would be free of effortâ . Thus, the Perceived Usefulness of Internet Technology, Perceived Ease of use, Experience of using Internet, attitude towards using Internet, Behavioral Intention to use Internet, Perceived Complexity and actual System use using the Internet has been determined and thereby reflecting the Learning Style, Per-ceptions and Emotions of the focus groups. Further the research study encompasses independent vari-ables mainly Designation, Age, Qualification, Teaching and Research Experience and Formal Training of respondents. In this paper, efforts were made to examine the relationship between the variables Use of Internet (UOI) and Level of Satisfaction (LOS), as a two major dependent variables of the research study. The various dimensions included are quantification of these two variables. To evaluate multiple effects, a set of four variables i.e. age, teaching and research experience and level of satisfaction were put to Regression Analysis to see the multiple effects on variable Use of Internet. The variable LOS has emerged as the most affecting the dependent variable that means affecting the dependent variables i.e. Use of Internet. Thus, there is very high correlation between variables, Use of Internet and Level of satis-faction. The co-efficient of correlation is also statistically significant showing high positive correlation, which implies that higher the level of satisfaction, higher will be the use of Internet. This has resulted in coming out with a mathematical â regression model in which the results of regression analysis shows that, the four variables age, teaching and research experience and level of satisfaction put together explains 39 per cent of variance in variable Use of Internet (UOI).