Abstract
This paper aims to reveal the determinants of the effectiveness of online discussion board systems (ODBSs) in eLearning environments to foster the interactions among the learners and/or instructors. A case in which an ODBS failed to foster the interactions among learners / instructors for knowledge sharing is introduced and hypotheses to explain the failure are developed based on thorough literature review in technology acceptance model (TAM) and knowledge hoarding. The hypotheses are tested via statistical analysis on the data collected from a questionnaire survey against the students who actually involved in the case study. The result shows that the low perceived usefulness of the ODBS by the students played major role in the failure of the system. Also it is hinted that network externalities as an intrinsic motivator is more effective than extrinsic motivators to increase the students’ activities on the ODBS. Finally the paper provides the designers of eLearning systems with advice for successful operation of ODBS in eLearning.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cabrera, A., Cabrera, E.F.: Knowledge-sharing Dillemmas. Organization Studies 23(5), 687–710 (2002)
Bénabou, R., Tirole, J.: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation. Review of Economic Studies 70(3), 489–520 (2003)
Davis, F.: Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly 13(3), 319–340 (1989)
Deci, E.L., Koestner, R., Ryan, R.M.: Extrinsic Rewards and Intrinsic Motivation in Education: Reconsidered Once Again. Review of Educational Research 71(1), 1–27 (2001)
Deci, E.L., Ryan, R.M.: The empirical exploration of intrinsic motivational processes. In: Berkowitz, L. (ed.) Advances in experimental social psychology, vol. 13, pp. 39–80. Academic Press, New York (1980)
Disterer, G.: Individual and social barriers to knowledge transfer. In: Proceedings of the 34th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (2001)
Fredericksen, E., Pickett, A., Pelz, W., Shea, P., Swan, K.: Student satisfaction and perceived learning with online courses: principles and examples from the SUNY learning network. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks 14(2) (2000)
Hevner, A.R., Martin, S.T., Park, J.: Design Science in Information Systems Research. MIS Quarterly 28(1), 75–105 (2004)
Husted, K., Michailova, S.: Diagnosing and fight knowledge-sharing hostility. Organizational Dynamics 31(1), 60–73 (2002)
Lee, M.K.O., Cheung, C.J.K., Chen, Z.: Acceptance of Internet-based learning medium: the role of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Information & Management 42, 1095–1104 (2005)
Lou, H., Luo, W., Strong, D.: Perceived critical mass effect on groupware acceptance. European Journal of Information Systems 9(1), 91–103 (2000)
Lu, J., Yu, C.-S., Liu, C., Yao, J.E.: Technology acceptance model for wireless internet. Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications and Policy 13(3), 206–222 (2003)
Mendenhall, W., Reinmuth, J.: Statistics for Management and Economics. Duxberry, Belmont (1971)
Shapiro, C., Varian, H.R.: Information Rules: A strategic guide to network economy. HBS Press, Boston (1999)
Swan, K., Shea, P., Fredericksen, E., Pickett, A., Pelz, W., Maher, G.: Building knowledge building communities: cnosistency, contact and communication in the virtual classroom. Journal of Educational Computing Research 23(4), 359–383 (2000)
Venkatesh, V.: A Theoretical Extension of the Technology Acceptance Model: Four Longitudinal Field Studies. Management Science 46(2), 186–204 (2000)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Lee, H., Kim, J.W., Hackney, R. (2008). The Determinants of the Effectiveness of Online Discussion Board Systems in eLearning: A Case Study. In: Lytras, M.D., Carroll, J.M., Damiani, E., Tennyson, R.D. (eds) Emerging Technologies and Information Systems for the Knowledge Society. WSKS 2008. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 5288. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-87781-3_30
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-87781-3_30
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-87780-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-87781-3
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)