The application of TAM for the investigation of students attitudes towards ICT in KHEIs learning

The aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes of students towards, and use of ICT in KHEIs (private- public), as well as identifying the factors that influence students‟ attitudes towards using ICT in their daily learning. Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used to examine the influence of the factors: type of university, gender, academic discipline, language of learning, students‟ ICT experience and ICT support, on the Perceive Ease (PEOU) of Use and Perceive Usefulness (PU), as internal components of attitude. This study employed mixed research methods to achieve its aims and objectives. The study sample consisted of 717 students from the sciences and humanities at both the Public University and the private University in Kuwait. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from students by distributing questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The principal quantitative results of this study were: (1) the overall attitude of public university students towards using ICT in their learning are more positive than the attitudes of students at the private university; (2) the type of university, gender, level of ICT experience and ICT support factors have an influence on students‟ attitudes through the PEOU and PU; (3) the factor of academic discipline only influences students in terms of the PEOU and PU, and (4) learning English has a positive influence on students‟ attitudes towards ICT. At the same time, the qualitative results show that the use of ICT tools in their English version can improve students‟ English language skills. Another qualitative result shows that the social communication between students and the peer learning can positively influence their attitude towards ICT, as well as improving their ICT experience and skills. Recommendations were subsequently made to stakeholders and educators at both universities, based on the findings of the study. Further ideas were then identified for future research.