Journal of Computer Assisted Learning (2002) 18, 137-148

Understanding user perceptions of

World-wide web environments
S.-S. Liaw
China Medical College. Taichung, Taiwan

Abstract The purpose of this study was to develop and test a conceptual
model of individual perceptions of Web technology as a use and training
tool. The model presents a perspective of users attitudes toward Web
environments. This model integrates the Technical Acceptance Model,
Social Cognitive Theory, individual attitudes, motivation and self-efficacy
perspectives to develop a new aspect of users perceptions toward Web
technology acceptance and use. The study provides some evidence that
the conceptual model helps the understanding of user perceptions to Web
environments. In addition, training and educational programmes on
computers may foster a positive feeling towards the Web. Furthermore,
the more individuals have self-efficacy towards Web technology, the more
individuals have motivation to use the Web.
Keywords: Motivation; Self-efficacy; Social cognitive theory;
Technology acceptance model; Questionnaire; Undergraduate; Worldwide web
Introduction
Despite the realisation that information technology is key to the success and survival
of organisations in a highly competitive environment, the potential benefits of
World-wide Web as aids to learning and training may not be fully realised due to
poor acceptance by users. Therefore, it is important to understand why certain
individuals jump right onto the information superhighway while others hesitantly
stand aside. Understanding Web use and nonuse can be beneficial for the design of
university courses or organisational training programmes. Many authors have studied
different aspects of the phenomenon, from a variety of theoretical perspectives,
including the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) (e.g. Bandura, 1977; 1986; Compeau
& Higgins, 1995a; 1995b; Compeau et al., 1999) and the Technology Acceptance
Model (TAM) (e.g. Vankatesh & Davis, 1996; Vankatesh, 1999) to individual
perceptions, including attitudes (Loyd & Loyd, 1985; Kay, 1989; Igbaria, 1993;
Nash & Moroz, 1997; Al-Khaldi & Al-Jabri, 1998), motivation (e.g. Davis et al.,
1992; Igbaria, 1993; Vallerand, 1997) and self-efficacy (e.g. Bandura, 1977; 1986;
Compeau & Higgins, 1995a; Igbaria & Iivari, 1995; Compeau et al., 1999).
Users are sometimes unwilling to accept and use available technologies and
express less than enthusiastic response to new technology, even if the technology
Accepted 24 October 2001
Correspondence: Shu-sheng Liaw, General Education Center, China Medical College, 91 Shiuesh Rd.,
Taichung, 404, Taiwan
Email: ssliaw@mail.cmc.edu.tw

2002 Blackwell Science Ltd

137

138 S-S. Liaw

may increase their productivity. In general, the acceptance and use of computers by
users appear to be limited due to fear of computers, resistance to new technology,
perceived difficulty of use, not understanding the importance of technology, and lack
of motivation to adopt a new technology (Igbaria & Iivari, 1995; Thompson et al.
1991). The Web is a relative new computer technology and greater attention needs to
be paid to the factors that cause users resistance to Web usage.
The current study develops and tests a conceptual model of individual
perceptions to Web technology as a use and training tool. The model explores users
attitudes toward Web environments that integrated TAM, SCT, individual attitudes,
motivation and self-efficacy perspectives to develop a new aspect of individual
perceptions toward Web technology acceptance and use. This helps an understanding
of how individual perceptions affect use of the Web and provides stronger causal
arguments regarding the observed relationships.
Literature review
Attitude
Attitude can be defined as the way an individual feels about and is disposed towards
certain objects. Gibson et al. (1991) defined attitude as a positive or negative
feeling or mental state of readiness, learned and organised through experience, that
exerts specific influences on a persons response to people, object, and
situation(p.70). Triandis (1971) suggested that attitude should consist of affective,
cognitive, and behavioural components. The affective component of attitude is the
emotion or feeling which includes statements of likes or dislikes about certain
objects. The cognitive component of attitude is statements of beliefs. In other words,
an individual holds a belief that a certain object can increase significantly the quality
of her or his output. The behavioural component of attitude is what an individual
actually does or intends to do (Al-Khaldi & Al-Jabri, 1998) and is affected by
individuals experience.
Culpan (1995) stated that no matter how sophisticated and how capable the
technology, its effective implementation depends upon users having a positive
attitude towards it. Although the concept of attitude towards computers has gained
recognition as a critical determinant in use and acceptance of information
technology, there is no single, universally accepted definition of the computer
attitude construct. Brock & Sulsky (1994) indicated that attitudes toward computers
were composed of two distinct factors; one was the belief that computers were a
beneficial tool and second was the belief that computers were autonomous entities.
The Computer Attitude Scale (CAS), developed by Loyd & Loyd (1985),
consisted of computer anxiety, computer confidence, computer liking and computer
usefulness. Computer anxiety refers to fear of computers or the tendency of a person
to be uneasy, apprehensive, and phobic towards current or future use of computers
(Igbaria, 1993; Loyd & Loyd 1985). Computer confidence, or computer selfefficacy, refers to the ability to use or learn about the computer. Computer liking, or
computer enjoyment, refers to liking or enjoying working with computers and
computer usefulness refers to the degree of perceived usefulness of using computers
for present and future work. In general, enjoyment represents the affective or feeling
part of attitude and self-efficacy, and usefulness represents the cognition or belief
part of attitude (Thompson et al., 1991). In the CAS, some studies (Kay, 1989; Nash
& Moroz, 1997; Al-Khaldi & Al-Jabri, 1998) suggest that computer anxiety and
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User perceptions of World-wide web environments

139

computer self-efficacy are part of the same continuum. Additionally, Woodrow

(1991) provided the evidence that the three-scale version of the CAS only included
two dimensions, affective and behavioural aspects. Moreover, Nash & Moroz (1997)
suggested that the attitude toward academic endeavours associated with computer
training should be incorporated into the CAS. This part refers to the learning and
training of skills in computer courses. Based on these references, the constructs of
Web attitude can be revised as self-efficacy, enjoyment, usefulness and behavioural
intention (Table 1.).
Table 1 Constructs of the Web attitudes
Construct
Web self-efficacy
Web enjoyment
Web usefulness

Description

Refers to the confidence to use or learn about the Internet/WWW

Refers to liking or enjoying working with the Internet/WWW
Refers to the degree of perceived usefulness of using the
Internet/WWW for present and future work
Behavioural intention Refers to the degree of intentions of using the Internet/WWW for
to use the Web
present and future work

Measurement
Cognitive
Affective
Cognitive
Behavioural

Social Cognitive Theory and self-efficacy

Generally, SCT is based on the premise that environmental influences such as social
pressures or unique situational characteristics, cognitive and other factors including
personality, as well as demographic characteristics and behaviour, are reciprocally
determined (Bandura, 1977; 1986; Compeau & Higgins, 1995a). Thus, individuals
choose the environments in which they wish to exist in addition to being influenced
by those environments. Additionally, behaviour in a given situation is affected by
environmental or situational characteristics, which are in turn affected by behaviour.
Furthermore, behaviour is influenced by cognitive and personal factors, and in turn,
affects those same factors (Compeau & Higgins, 1995a). SCT explicitly
acknowledges the existence of a continuous reciprocal interaction between the
environment in which an individual operates, his or her cognitive perceptions (such
as self-efficacy and outcome expectation) and his or her behaviour (Bandura, 1986;
Compeau & Higgins, 1995a).
Based on SCT, self-efficacy is viewed as an antecedent to use, but successful
interactions with technology are also viewed as influences on self-efficacy. Thus,
SCT incorporates two specific expectations: outcome expectations and expectations
related self-efficacy (Igbaria & Iivari, 1995). Outcome expectations are similar to the
perceived usefulness in TAM, where users tend to undertake behaviours they believe
will help them perform their job better. According to self-efficacy, Wood & Bandura
(1989) state that self-efficacy refers to beliefs in ones capabilities to mobilise the
motivation, cognitive resources, and courses of action needed to meet given
situational demands (p. 408). SCT claims that both expectations are basic
determinants of user behaviour.
Bandura (1986) defined self-efficacy as generative capability in which
cognitive, social, and behavioural subskills must organised into integrated courses
of action to serve innumerable purposes (p. 391). This definition highlights a key
aspect of the self-efficacy construct. Essentially, if serious uncertainties regarding
performance of necessary activities exist in efficacy expectations, the efficacy
expectations would not impact behaviour. Thus, the greater people perceive their
self-efficacy to be, the more active and longer they persist in their efforts. Kinzie et
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140 S-S. Liaw

al. (1994) defined self-efficacy as an individuals confidence in her or his ability that
may impact the performance of tasks. They noted that self-efficacy reflected an
individuals confidence in the ability to perform the behaviour required to produce
specific outcomes and was thought to impact directly the choice to engage in a task,
the effort that would be expended and the persistence that would be exhibited.
Murphy et al. (1989) view computer self-efficacy as an individuals perception of
their capabilities regarding specific computer knowledge and skills.
Technology Acceptance Model, usefulness and behavioural intention
TAM, developed from the social psychology Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA)
(Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980), explains user acceptance of a technology based on user
attitudes. A conspicuous difference between the TAM and TRA is that TAM omits
subjective norms, mostly for methodological reasons and partly because they were
not significant in explaining behavioural intentions. TAM views the causal
relationships as essentially unidirectional, with the environment influencing
cognitive beliefs, which influence attitudes and behaviours.
TAM suggests that two specific behavioural beliefs, perceived ease of use (EOU)
and perceived usefulness (U), determine an individuals behavioural intention to use
technologies. In contrast to perceived ease of use, which is process expectancy,
perceived usefulness is outcome expectancy. The behavioural intention to use
technologies leads to actual system use. Previous research has demonstrated the
validity of this model across a wide variety of corporate information technology
systems (Szajna, 1996; Taylor & Todd, 1995; Vankatesh & Davis, 1996; Gefen &
Straub, 1997; Vankatesh, 1999; Lederer et al., 2000). In many previous studies,
behaviour belief is strongly affected by perceived usefulness.
Motivation, usefulness and enjoyment
Motivational perspectives, similar to the use of TRA to study human behaviour, have
also been widely used to understand individual behaviour. Davis et al. (1992) found
that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are key drivers of behavioural intention to use
computers. Intrinsic motivation emphasises to the pleasure and inherent satisfaction
derived from a specific activity (Vallerand, 1997) while extrinsic motivation
highlights performing a behaviour to achieve a specific goal, such as rewards. In
other words, intrinsic motivation is based on performing an activity purely for
enjoyment of the activity itself and extrinsic motivation refers to the performance of
an activity because it is believed to be instrumental in achieving valued outcomes
that are separate from the activity. Recent research that has examined an intrinsic
factor (enjoyment) showed that this had a positive effect on the intention to use
information technology (Atkinson & Kydd, 1997; Vankatesh, 1999); additionally, an
extrinsic factor (usefulness) was also found to have a positive effect on the intention
to use computers (Igbaria, 1993).
Model development
Among the various theoretical models developed to examine users intentions to use
computing technology, TAM has emerged as especially promising. Although
research on TAM has provided insights into computer usage, it has focused on
perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness as the determinants of usage rather
than on other factors affecting these determinants. Additionally, TAM suggests that
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User perceptions of World-wide web environments

141

users will use computer technology if they believe it will result in positive outcomes.
On the other hand, SCT claims that beliefs about outcomes may be insufficient to
influence behaviour if users doubt their capabilities to successfully undertake
behaviours. Self-efficacy, the belief that one has the ability to perform a particular
action, is an important construct of the SCT. Bandura (1977) argues that selfefficacy must be considered to understand users behaviours. He states, individuals
can believe that a particular course of action will produce certain outcomes, but if
individuals entertain serious doubts about whether they can perform the necessary
activities, such information does not influence their behaviour (p.193). This
argument emphasises the impact of the users cognitive state on outcomes and the
importance of understanding self-efficacy.
Furthermore, Davis et al. (1992) found that intrinsic motivation (enjoyment) and
extrinsic motivation (usefulness) are key drivers of behaviour intention to use
computers. The perceived usefulness, is constructed by TAM and extrinsic motivation, reflects beliefs (or intentions) about outcomes. From an intrinsic motivation
aspect, perceived enjoyment has a positive effect on intention to use computers.
The conceptual model (Technology Use Model) used to guide this study is shown
in Fig. 1. The model is derived by integrating TAM, SCT, individual perceptions,
motivation perspective, and self-efficacy perspective to develop a new aspect of
individual intentions toward Web technology acceptance and use. This conceptual
model includes seven hypotheses which are defined in Table 2.
H7
Perceived
usefulness
H6
Technology
experience

H1

Behavioural
self-efficacy

H2

Behavioural
intention

H4
H3
Perceived
enjoyment

H5

Fig. 1. The conceptual model (Technology Use Model TUM)

Research design
Instruments
The data for this study was gathered by a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire
included three major components:
Demographic information: The demographic component of the questionnaire
covered gender and years of computer-related experience.
Computer experience: In this component, subjects were asked to indicate whether
they had experiences using the Internet/WWW, experience with word processing
packages, and experience with database packages. These questionnaires are all 7point Likert scales (from no experience to highly experience).
Web attitude scale: in these four components, subjects were asked to indicate their
perceptions toward Web self-efficacy, enjoyment, usefulness, and intention to use
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142 S-S. Liaw

the Web. These questionnaires are all 7-point Likert scales (from strongly disagree
to strongly agree).
Table 2 Hypothesise in the conceptual model
Hypothesis

Supporting references since 1995

H1. The higher the individual computer Al-Khaldi & Al-Jabri (1998); Igbaria & Iivari .(1995);
and experience, the higher her/his Web Levine & Donitsa-Schmidt (1998); Mitra (1998);
self-efficacy
Zhang & Espinoza (1998)
H2. The higher the individual Web
self-efficacy, the higher her/his Web
usefulness.

Compeau & Higgins (1995a); Compeau et al., (1999)

H3. The higher the individual Web

self-efficacy, the higher her/his Web
enjoyment.

Compeau & Higgins (1995b); Compeau et al., (1999)

H4. The higher the individual Web

enjoyment, the higher his/her Web
usefulness.

Compeau & Higgins (1995b); Compeau et al., (1999);

Vankatesh & Davis (1996); Vankatesh (1999)

H5. The higher the individual Web

enjoyment, the higher his/her
intention to use the Web.

Gefen & Straub (1997); Szajna (1996);

Taylor & Todd (1995); Vankatesh & Davis (1996);
Vankatesh (1999)

H6. The higher the individual Web

usefulness, the higher his/her
intention to use the Web.

Gefen & Straub (1997); Szajna (1996);

Taylor & Todd (1995); Vankatesh & Davis (1996);
Vankatesh (1999)

H7. The higher the individual Web

self-efficacy, the higher her/his
intention to use the Web.

Compeau & Higgins (1995b); Compeau et al., (1999)

Research participants
The participants were students who studied at a north-west university in the United
States and were chosen by the universitys Web page named White Pages for
searching students email accounts. The method of selection was to use students
first name as key words for searching. Fifty-eight first names were used in this study
for selecting samples and 809 participants were chosen. Perceptions were gathered
from 263 students through a survey Web page on the Internet; three had no data and
so only 260 replies were analysed. The response rate was 32.5%.
Pre-test
The purpose of a pre-test was to examine the reliability of the questionnaire. The
participants of the pre-test were doctoral students in the School of Education, in a
north-west university of United States. At first, the whole sample size was 33
doctoral students and all of them were in their first or second year of study. The
participants returned their surveys from the Web page via the Internet. The total
number of respondents was 20 (16 female and 4 male). The response rate was 61%.
There were 16 items on the scale, the mean (m) was 88.30, and standard deviation
(s.d.) was 16.87. For the split-half coefficient, the first half included first eight items
and the second half contained last eight items. Cronbachs was 0.94 and corrected
item-total correlations ranged from 0.20 to 0.91.
Results
Internal consistency
The Web attitude scale had 16 items; the mean was 91.88 and standard deviation
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User perceptions of World-wide web environments

143

14.31. For the split-half coefficient, the first half included the first eight items and
the second half the last eight items. For the first half, the mean was 45.08 and
standard deviation was 7.63. For the second half, the mean was 46.80 and standard
deviation was 7.63. Corrected item-total correlations of the first half were ranged
from 0.470.79 and of the second half were ranged from 0.58 to 0.80. The alpha
coefficient was 0.87 and 0.91 for the first and second half, respectively. In addition,
Cronbachs of the total instrument was 0.93 and corrected item-total correlations
were ranged from 0.47 to 0.80. The item-total correlations are shown in Table 3.
Table 3. Mean(m), Standard Deviation(sd) and Corrected Item-Total Correlations
No.

Item

Web self-efficacy:
1
I feel confident using the Internet/World-wide web.
2
I feel confident using email:.
3
I feel confident using WWW browsers (Internet Explorer, Netscape).
4
I feel confident using search engines (i.e. Yahoo, Excite, and Lycos).
Web enjoyment:
5
I like to use email: to communicate with others.
6
I enjoy talking with others about the Internet.
7
I like to work with the Internet/WWW.
8
I like to use the Internet from home.
Web usefulness:
9
I believe using the Internet/WWW is worthwhile.
10
The Internet/WWW helps me to find information.
11
I believe the Internet makes communication with others easier.
12
The multimedia environment of WWW(e.g. text, image) is helpful to
understand online information.
Behavioural intention to use the Web:
13
I believe the Internet/WWW has potential as a learning tool.
14
I believe that the Internet/WWW is able to offer online learning
activities.
15
I believe that learning how to use the Internet/WWW is worthwhile.
16
Learning the Internet/WWW skills can enhance my academic
performance.

sd

r*

5.88
6.35
6.00
5.90

1.13
0.93
1.09
1.23

0.66
0.54
0.68
0.61

6.25
3.82
5.06
5.81

1.14
1.79
1.62
1.45

0.47
0.60
0.79
0.66

5.85
6.02
6.07
5.50

1.27
1.13
1.20
1.37

0.80
0.72
0.58
0.71

5.95
5.71

1.14
1.24

0.73
0.68

6.12
5.59

1.02
1.31

0.74
0.64

r* means item-total correlation

Analysis of relationships
The descriptive statistics of years of computer-related experience are shown in
Table 4 and the descriptive statistics of computer experience are shown in Table 5
with the Pearson correlation coefficients among the variables in Table 6. The bivariate relationships indicate that most of variables were significantly correlated with
each other and the correlations were all less than 0.80 except the correlation between
Web usefulness and behavioural intention to use the Web (r = 0.81).
Analysis of prediction
Regarding analytic strategy for assessing the predictive model, path analysis is an
appropriate multivariate analytical methodology for empirically examining sets of
relationships in the form of linear causal models. In general, the value of the path
coefficient associated with each path represents the strength of each linear influence.
Although the path coefficient can be estimated in many ways, multiple regression
analysis has been used in most empirical applications of this methodology.

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144 S-S. Liaw

Table 4. Years of computer-related
experience

Table 5. Descriptive statistics of

computer experience with:

Years -

Variables

Frequency Percentage

6 months or less
6 months to 1 years
12 years
24 years
46 years
6 years or more

7
12
24
58
50
109

2.7
4.6
9.2
22.3
19.2
41.9

mean

Word processing packages.

Database packages.
The Internet/WWW.

s.d.

5.30
2.56
4.82

1.54
1.69
1.35

Table 6. Correlation analysis

Variables

1. Web self-efficacy
1
2. Web enjoyment
3. Web usefulness
4. Behavioural intention to use the Web
5. Experience using the Internet/WWW
6. Experience with word processing packages

0.61*
1

0.58*
0.78*
1

0.50*
0.69*
0.81*
1

0.70*
0.59*
0.48*
0.41*
1

0.58*
0.43*
0.40*
0.37*
0.66*
1

*. p < 0.01.

Table 7. Regression results for predicted path relationships

Dependent variable
Web self-efficacy

Independent variables,

Experience using the Internet/WWW

Experience with word processing packages
Web enjoyment
Web self-efficacy
Web usefulness
Web self-efficacy
Web usefulness
Web enjoyment
Behavioural intention to use the Web Web usefulness
Web enjoyment
Behavioural intention to use the Web Web self-efficacy

R2

0.55
0.22
0.61
0.58
0.78
0.68
0.16
0.50

0.48
0.03
0.37
0.34
0.60
0.66
0.01
0.25

0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.05
0.00

The stepwise multiple regression results for the path associated with the variables are
presented in Table 7. For examining H1, a regression analysis was performed to
check the effect of computer experience variables on the Web self-efficacy. The
predictor variables were experiences using the Internet/WWW, experience with
word processing packages and experience with database packages. The results
indicated the biggest predictor variable was experience using the Internet/WWW and
another predictor was experience with word processing packages (F = 134.54,
p = 0.000, R2 = 0.51). For testing H2, a regression analysis was conducted to check
the effect of the Web self-efficacy on the Web enjoyment. The results show that the
predictor variable had accounted for 37% of the variance in the criterion variable
(F = 153.09, p = 0.000, R2 = 0.37). For testing H3, a regression analysis was
conducted to check the effect of the Web self-efficacy on Web usefulness. The
results show the predictor variable had accounted for 34% of the variance in
criterion variable (F = 130.31, p = 0.000, R2 = 0.34). For examining H4, a regression
analysis was conducted to check the effect of the Web enjoyment on Web usefulness.
The results show the predictor variable had accounted for 60% of the variance in
criterion variable (F = 390.77, p = 0.000, R2 = 0.60). For examining H5 and H6, a
regression analysis was conducted to check the effect of the Web enjoyment and the
Web usefulness on behavioural intention to use the Web. The result which gave the
biggest predictor variable was Web usefulness (F = 256.96, p = 0.000, R2 = 0.67).
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User perceptions of World-wide web environments

145

For testing H7, a regression analysis was conducted to check the effect of the Web
self-efficacy on behavioural intention to use the Web. The results show the predictor
variable accounted for 25% of the variance in criterion variable (F = 87.28,
p = 0.000, R2 = 0.25). Table 6 summarises the results of hypotheses and Fig. 2
presents the results of the research model that was based on the hypotheses (see
Table 2) which were all supported by the research data.
Essentially, multicollinearity can be
Experience using the
Experience with word
Internet/WWW
processing packages
controlled by two ways: correlation
between independent variables should all
=0.55**
=0.22**
be less than 0.8 (Emory & Cooper, 1991)
and variance inflation factors (VIF) should
Web self-efficacy
be less than 10 (Neter & Kutner, 1990). In
this study, multicollinearity was ruled out
=0.61** =0.50**
=0.58**
because
the
correlation
between
independent variables, as Table 6 shows,
Web enjoyment
Web usefulness
were almost all less than 0.8 and the VIFs
=0.78**
were all less than 10. Based on multiple
=0.16*
=0.68**
regression analysis, the scatter plots of
standardised residuals by the standardised
Behavioural intention to
predicted scores were also examined to
use the Web
verify the assumption of linearity.
Fig. 2. The results of the research model
* p<0.05.

** p<0.01.

Discussion
The purpose of this case study was to explore the role of individual Web attitudes
based on theoretical and personal perceptions. The results of the research provide
support for all hypotheses that were tested. Additionally, all of the three identified
variables (Web self-efficacy, Web enjoyment, and Web usefulness) turn out to have
significantly positive effects on behavioural intention to use the Web. Web
usefulness is found to be the most, and Web enjoyment the least, important
determinant of behavioural intention to use the Web. Therefore, on a macro level,
the present results corroborate previous research thar the Web affects individual
behaviour to use computers and the Internet. On a micro level, the findings provide
evidence that the conceptual model has practical value.
The results of the case study confirm earlier research on Social Cognitive
Theory. In general, SCT claims that both outcome expectations and expectations
related self-efficacy, are basic determinates of user behaviour. Outcome expectations
could be viewed as the perceived usefulness in the Technology Acceptance Model.
From the results, self-efficacy was found to play an important role in shaping
individuals perceptions and behaviours. The respondents in the case study with high
self-efficacy used computers and the Internet more than others. Additionally,
perceived usefulness was found to have a significant impact on behavioural intention
to use the Web. Furthermore, consistent with SCT, computer and the Internet
experience affect Web self-efficacy. These results support other researchers (e.g.
Bandura, 1977; 1986; Igbaria & Iivari, 1995) conjecture of experience as the most
influential determinant of self-efficacy. The practical implications of this finding is
that training and educational programmes on computers may foster a feeling of Web
self-efficacy. Such training and educational programmes should emphasise user
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146 S-S. Liaw

friendliness of currently available microcomputers, and the availability and ease of
use of software packages which require little or no knowledge of the technical
aspects of computers. In view of the primacy of perceived usefulness, it is vital that
educational programmes emphasise the application of Web technology to authentic
tasks and work contexts.
The results also support TAM and motivational perspectives which were
integrated in this research. TAM suggests that behavioural beliefs determine an
individuals behavioural intention to use technology. On the other hand, motivation
is also a key driver of behavioural intention to use technology. Based on
motivational perspectives, perceived enjoyment could be viewed as intrinsic
motivation and perceived usefulness could be viewed as extrinsic motivation. Present
results show that self-efficacy has significant positive effects on both perceived
enjoyment and usefulness. The more individuals have self-efficacy toward computers
and Web technology, the more individuals have motivation to use the Web.
Conclusion
In summary, the present study indicates that teachers, trainers, and instructional
designers of computer-based or Web-based instruction would benefit by being more
attentive to learners perceptions toward Web-based environments. Based on high
Cronbachs coefficients and high test-retest reliability, this research has high internal
consistency, stability and validity. In other words, the conceptual model and the
questionnaire of this research can be used for practical purposes. Further, learners
attitudes toward technology should be considered in many different aspects.
Individual computer and Internet experience, self-efficacy and motivation (including
enjoyment and usefulness) are all key factors for individual use of the Web. If
teachers and trainers have such information when planning their instruction,
especially online courses, they may consider allocating some of instructional time
and activities to strengthening the weaker computer-related skills. Given the
predictive utility of perceptions demonstrated by many previous and present
findings, such effort seems worthy.
Limitations
In conducting the statistical analysis, it was found that respondents were skewed in
distribution by the variable of years of computer-related experience (shown in
Table 4). This might be a crucial limitation of the Internet survey. This result
suggests that when individuals have a more positive feeling toward computers they
are more willing to answer the survey. General speaking, users computer anxiety
decreased with more computing experience and high frequency of using computers
(Yaghi & Abu-Saba, 1998). Based on this evidence, participants will be afraid to
answer the questionnaire in a Web format when they use computers infrequently. In
other words, this phenomenon may create the statistical issues of restriction of range
or skewed distribution.
Another limitation is relatively low response rate which may make generalisation
difficult. The response rate of this study was 32.5% and this also might be due to fear
of technology. In general, response rates from the Internet surveys are from 6% to
70% (Weible & Wallace, 1998). At the moment, the response rate is unpredictable
and that of this study is quite reasonable. Weible & Wallace (1998) also indicated
that response rates between email and regular mail were not significantly different.
2002 Blackwell Science Ltd, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 18, 137-148

User perceptions of World-wide web environments

147

The third limitation is that the results cannot be generalised to all educational
institutions. Indeed, this study focused on a university and differences certainly exist
between universities and other schools (such as high schools). Therefore, careful use
of the results should be made, especially as to their applicability to different gradelevel schools or other organisations (such as business or industry).
Acknowledgement
The author is grateful to the editor, Robert Lewis and the anonymous referees for
their helpful comments. In addition, the author wishes to acknowledge Dr. Arthur K.
Ellis, Dr. Peter Smith, and Dr. Christopher Sink for their helpful suggestions. This
study was partially supported by National Science Council in Taiwan (Project
Number: NSC 90-2511-S-039-002) and was partially supported by Ministry of
Education in Taiwan, Project Number: H045.
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Conference announcement
International Conference on Computers in Education (ICCE 2002)
Learning communities on the Internet - pedagogy in implementation
3-6 December 2002, Auckland, New Zealand
For more information see: http://icce2002.massey.ac.nz
International Conference on Computers in Education (ICCE 2003)
The Second Wave of ICT in Education: from facilitating teaching and learning to
engendering education reform
December 2003, Hong Kong
2002 Blackwell Science Ltd, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 18, 137-148