The use of web 2.0 by students and lecturers at Mzuzu University, Malawi: the case of the faculty of Information Science and Communications

Abstract

The study adopted the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behaviour (DTPB) by Taylor and Todd (1995) which explains the rejection and acceptance of technological innovations such as Web 2.0. The researcher adopted a case study design in which both qualitative and quantitative data were collected to answer the research problem. The study was conducted in three phases; in phase one, a questionnaire was sent to 186 students and 19 lecturers, phase two involved analysing the curricula and phase three involved conducting follow-up interviews with seven lecturers to seek clarification on some concepts and elaboration on themes identified in phases one and two. The findings show that between 69 (50.7%) and 128 (94.1%) students use these Web 2.0 technologies to search for information, to communicate with lecturers, to submit assignments, to communicate with friends on academic work and to share content with fellow students. Most lecturers use these technologies in handing out assignments to students, receiving feedback from students, uploading lecture notes, searching for content, storing lecture notes and carrying out collaborative educational activities. Between 66 (45.8%) and 95 (69.9%) students use Wikipedia, WhatsApp, Google Apps and YouTube and similarly, between 10 (58.8%) and 13 (76.5%) lecturers use Wikipedia, YouTube, Blog, Google Apps and Twitter to accomplish various academic activities. The findings show further that attitude (perceived usefulness, ease of use and compatibility) and perceived behaviour control (self-efficacy, resource facilitating condition and technology facilitating condition) are strong DTPB factors that determine students’ and lecturers’ intention to integrate Web 2.0 technologies in their academic activities. On the other hand, lack of Internet access remains the recurrent key stumbling blocks towards a successful adoption of Web 2.0 technologies in learning and teaching at Mzuzu University (MZUNI).