Using Facebook as a Collaborative and Communicative Tool

Abstract

This study discusses the acceptance of the utilisation of Facebook as a communication tool and collaborative educational tool amongst secondary school students in the district of Kulim, Kedah, Malaysia. This study is based on the five constructs of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model proposed by Venkatesh, Morris, Davis and Davis (2003). These five constructs are performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions and behavioral intentions. The respondents for this study were 210 secondary school students who were randomly selected in the Kulim district. The data for this study was elicited through questionnaires adapted from Venkatesh et al. (2003). The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) and Partial Least Squares (SmartPLS). The results showed that performance expectations (PE) (β =-0.018, p > 0.01), effort expectations (EE) (β = 0.242, p > 0.01) facilitating conditions (FC) (β = 0.330, p > 0.01and for social influence (SI) (β = 0.260, p >0.01) do not have a significant positive impact on behavioral intentions (BI). The value for R2 = 0.532 indicates that 53.2 % of the variance in the use of Facebook applications for communication and collaboration can be explained by the BI. The study also revealed that the either PE, EE, SI or FC showed a significant correlation with the BI. These findings have an important implication for the development of education. The use of Facebook applications and other social media as a medium for collaboration and communication in the classroom could not promote quality teaching and learning. This study only examines the four constructs of the UTAUT model proposed by Venkatesh et al. (2003). However, given the model’s robustness in predicting user acceptance of technology, it is recommended that future studies look at different constructs such as attitudes and motivation, and also examine the moderating effects of age and sex on the BI and Use Behavior. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n1s1p286