Computers in Human Behavior 70 (2017) 382e390
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Computers in Human Behavior
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/comphumbeh
Full length article
Antecedents and consequences of cloud computing adoption in
education to achieve knowledge management
Ibrahim Arpaci
Gaziosmanpasa University, Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology, Tokat, Turkey
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history:
Received 8 June 2016
Received in revised form
30 December 2016
Accepted 10 January 2017
Available online 12 January 2017
The effective management of knowledge is critical to achieve high academic performance, effectiveness,
and efficiency. Adoption of cloud computing in education has the potential to enhance the management
of knowledge. This study aims to investigate the antecedents and consequences of cloud computing
adoption in education to achieve knowledge management. Thereby, this study implemented the cloud
computing in an authentic learning environment to support knowledge management practices and
provided participants with training and education. Pre-tests and post-tests were administered on the
first and last week of the 14-week intervention. This study examined the causal relationship between the
expectations for knowledge management practices and the perceived usefulness of cloud computing
services. Further, the causal relationships among innovativeness, training and education, and perceived
ease of use were examined in the study. Survey data collected from 221 undergraduate students were
analyzed by using structural equation modeling to validate the research model. The results indicate that
the perceived usefulness is significantly associated with the expectations for knowledge creation and
discovery, storage, and sharing. Amongst others, the expectations for knowledge storage and sharing
have a stronger relationship with the perceived usefulness. Further, innovativeness and training & education are significantly associated with the ease of use perceptions. The findings suggested that
educational institutions may promote adoption of cloud computing in education by increasing the
awareness of knowledge management practices.
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Cloud computing
Knowledge management
Media in education
1. Introduction
Cloud computing is “a distributed computing technology that
provides dynamically scalable computing resources including
storage, computation power, and applications delivered as a service
over the Internet” (Arpaci, 2016; Stanoevska-Slabeva, Wozniak, &
Ristol, 2010). Cloud computing has several advantages such as
location independence, cost effectiveness, maintenance, and scalability (Shon, Cho, Han, & Choi, 2014).
Cloud computing services such as Google Drive, Dropbox, SkyDrive, and iCloud can be easily integrated into the educational
settings. These services may provide students to store files, share
the files, revise and access the files synchronized among various
devices. Cloud computing services may also provide easier and
quicker information retrieval and discovery, allow students to store
and share documents, offer a more flexible environment by
enabling ubiquitous access to materials, and facilitate interaction
among students and instructors. Thereby, these services can support knowledge management practices, including knowledge creation or retrieval, storage, transfer, and application.
The effective management of knowledge is critical to achieve
high academic performance, effectiveness, and efficiency. The
unique advantages provided by cloud computing services, especially, the ability to exchange documents anytime and anywhere
may enable students meet urgent educational needs. Therefore,
adoption of cloud computing in education has the potential to
enhance the management of knowledge. To this end, understanding the antecedents and consequences of cloud computing adoption in education to achieve knowledge management is important
from a practical standpoint.
2. Literature review
2.1. Definition and characteristics of knowledge
E-mail address: ibrahim.arpaci@gop.edu.tr.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.01.024
0747-5632/© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
There is a hierarchical relationship among data, information,
I. Arpaci / Computers in Human Behavior 70 (2017) 382e390
and knowledge. Maglitta (1996) defines data as being “raw
numbers and facts”, information as being “processed data”, and
knowledge as being “information made actionable.” Nonaka (1994)
suggests that knowledge is “a justified true belief”, and defines
knowledge as “a dynamic human process of justifying personal
beliefs as part of an aspiration for the truth” (Nonaka, 1994, p. 15).
Knowledge is dynamic, aesthetic, subjective, and processrelational (Nonaka, Toyama, & Hirata, 2008). Knowledge is
created by people through the continuous interaction of tacit and
explicit knowledge. “Tacit knowledge is highly personal and hard to
formalize, making it difficult to communicate or to share with
others. Subjective insights, intuitions, and hunches fall into this
category of knowledge. Furthermore, tacit knowledge is deeply
rooted in an individual’s action and experience, as well as in the
ideals, values, or emotions he or she embraces” (Nonaka &
Takeuchi, 1995, p. 8). In contrast to tacit knowledge, explicit
knowledge is less subjective and can be expressed in numbers and
words.
Nonaka (1994) suggests a spiral model with four modes “Socialization, Externalization, Combination, Internalization” of
knowledge creation and conversion. In the SECI model, socialization refers to “the conversion of tacit knowledge to new tacit
knowledge through social interactions and shared experience” (i.e.,
apprenticeship) (Nonaka, 1994). The combination refers to “the
creation of new explicit knowledge by categorizing, merging,
reclassifying, and synthesizing existing explicit knowledge” (i.e.,
literature survey reports) (Nonaka, 1994). Externalization refers to
“converting tacit knowledge to new explicit knowledge” (i.e.,
articulation of the best practice) (Nonaka, 1994). Internalization
refers to “the creation of new tacit knowledge from explicit
knowledge” (i.e., learning from reading or a discussion) (Nonaka,
1994). In this model, “knowledge follows a cycle in which implicit
knowledge is extracted to become explicit knowledge, and explicit
knowledge is re-internalized into implicit knowledge” (Nonaka,
1994, p. 19).
2.2. Knowledge management
As aforementioned, knowledge is a “justified true belief” that
increases and individual’s or organization’s capacity for taking
effective action (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995, p. 21). Thus, managing
knowledge enables effectiveness and efficiency in decision making
and provides insight in problem solving, dynamic learning, and
strategic planning (Davenport & Prusak, 1998). Further, knowledge
management helps leveraging the intellectual assets, including
skills, experiences, and innovation (Duffy, 2000). Knowledge
management is the practices that help capture, organize, and store
expertise to transfer or share with others (Turban, Sharda, & Delen,
2011). Similarly, Mitchell (2003, pp. 66e78) defines knowledge
management as being a systematic process that includes capture,
creation, store, and share of the knowledge and learning.
Knowledge management systems are the information technologies, information systems, or mechanisms that support knowledge management (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995). Turban et al. (2011)
suggested the information technologies can be employed to
enhance knowledge management processes of knowledge acquisition, generation, storage, transfer, and application. In the same
vein, Mitchell (2003, pp. 66e78) suggests that technology can be
used as an enabler to the management of knowledge. However,
Duffy (2000) argues that effective implementation of the information technologies in knowledge management requires user
training. Therefore, the present study suggests the integration of
cloud computing services to the knowledge management processes
of creation, retrieval, storage, sharing, and application. The implementation of cloud computing services to the knowledge
383
management supported with training and education throughout
the study.
2.3. Technology acceptance model
The TAM is a widely applied framework to explain user acceptance and use of a technology or system. However, it has limited
explanatory power in explaining the acceptance and use of various
systems. Thus, Davis (1989) suggested additional factors to be
included in the original TAM. Accordingly, prior studies extended
the TAM by including external factors relevant to their domains. For
example, Venkatesh, Morris, Davis, and Davis (2003) proposed a
unified model, “Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology”, based on the TAM by including two additional constructs;
“social influence and facilitating conditions.” Ros et al. (2015)
extended the TAM to better explain students’ acceptance and
intention to use third-generation learning management systems
(LMS). They found that the intention to use LMS is determined by
nchez and
the container and gadget design. In a similar study, Sa
Hueros (2010) extended the TAM with technical support and
perceived self-efficacy to explain use of Moodle by university students. The results showed that technical support has a significant
effect on the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use.
Jeong (2009) extended the TAM to investigate secretaries’
acceptance of information systems and Internet use in an office
situation. The results indicated that the employer pressure, computer self-efficacy, organizational support, and job relevancy have a
significant effect on the perceived usefulness. Further, the computer self-efficacy and organizational support have a significant
effect on the ease of use perceptions. In another study, Egea and
lez (2011) extended the TAM with trust and risk related
Gonza
factors to better explain physicians’ acceptance of electronic health
care records systems. Their results suggested the attitudinal factors
and cognitive instrumental processes have significant effects on the
intentions to use. Further, perceptions of institutional trust have
significant effects on the physicians’ attitudes, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use.
Benamati, Fuller, Serva, and Baroudi (2010) extended the TAM to
explain use of e-commerce environments by university students.
Their results suggested that trust beliefs, including ability, benevolence, and integrity have significant effects on the trusting attitude, which has a significant impact on the intention to use ecommerce environments. Melas, Zampetakis, Dimopoulou, and
Moustakis (2011) extended the TAM to explain acceptance of clinical information systems by including two factors relevant to clinicians; self-reported ICT feature demand and self-reported ICT
knowledge. The results suggested that medical professionals’ ICT
knowledge has a positively significant impact on the perceived ease
of use. While, the ICT feature demand has a significant but negative
impact on the perceived usefulness.
The acceptance and use of cloud computing services have also
recently received increasing attention. For example, Arpaci (2016)
investigated the mobile cloud computing services adoption based
on the TAM. His results indicated that the perceived usefulness, and
trust have positive and significant impact on the adoption. In
another study, Shin (2013) aimed to understand the adoption of
cloud computing by governmental institutions based on the TAM.
The results suggested the perceived usefulness and perceived ease
of use were significant antecedents of the cloud computing adoption. Jou and Wang (2013) extended the TAM to compare motivation and achievement in use of cloud computing among college
students with different backgrounds. The results showed that the
students with a vocational high-school background have higher
motivations. More recently, Sharma, Al-Badi, Govindaluri, and AlKharusi (2016) investigated the motivators of the cloud
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I. Arpaci / Computers in Human Behavior 70 (2017) 382e390
use perceptions are predicted by innovativeness and training and
education.
computing adoption by extending the TAM. Their findings suggested that trust, computer self-efficacy, and job opportunity were
significant predictors of the cloud computing adoption.
On the other hand, few studies have been conducted linking
cloud computing with knowledge management. For example,
Rezaei, Karimi, and Hosseini (2016) and Sultan (2013) suggest that
the cloud computing is a suitable platform to set up knowledge
management systems. Razmerita, Phillips-Wren, and Jain (2015)
claim that using cloud computing is an innovative way of knowledge management. Anupan, Nilsook, and Wannapiroon (2015) and
lez, and Tamm (2015) suggest that cloud
Stantchev, Prieto-Gonza
computing has significantly enhanced the way of management of
knowledge. This study aims to contribute the literature by focusing
on the antecedents and consequences of cloud computing adoption
in education to achieve knowledge management.
Attitude toward using a new system can be defined as “an individual’s overall affective reaction to use the system” (Davis, 1989).
However, continued use intentions can be defined as “the degree of
an individual’s belief that he or she will continue to use the system”
(Venkatesh et al., 2003). Ajzen’s (1991) theory of planned behavior
suggests that the more favorable students’ attitudes towards using
cloud computing services, the greater their continued use intentions would be. Therefore, it is hypothesized that positive attitudes toward cloud computing services are significantly associated
with the continued use intentions (H1).
3. Theoretical background and hypotheses
3.2. Perceived ease of use
The present study adopted the TAM as an initial theoretical
framework. The TAM, based on the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA,
Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975), suggests that two theoretical constructs;
perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness are significant factors in predicting the variance in users’ attitudes toward using a
system. On the other hand, the TRA suggests that “behaviors are
predicted by intentions and that intentions are jointly determined
by attitudes toward the behavior” (Davis, Bagozzi, & Warshaw,
1989). The proposed model extends the TAM by adding external
factors, which are considered to be significant in predicting cloud
computing adoption to achieve knowledge management.
Fig. 1 presents the proposed research model, which suggests the
continued use intention is predicted by attitudes, whereas attitudes
are predicted by perceived usefulness and ease of use. It also suggests that the perceived usefulness is predicted by the perceived
ease of use and the expectations for knowledge management
practices, including knowledge creation and discovery, knowledge
sharing, knowledge storage, knowledge application. While, ease of
Perceived ease of use can be defined as “the degree to which an
individual believes that using a system is free from effort” (Davis,
1989). This variable is similar to the notion of “complexity” in the
Diffusions of Innovation Theory (DOI, Rogers, 2010) and “effort
expectancy” in the UTAUT. The easier it is to perform the key
functionalities of cloud computing services, the lower the level of
task complexity and the more positive attitudes towards using
these services (H2) and the quicker and easier perceptions of advantages provided by the services (H3).
3.1. Attitudes and continued use intentions
3.3. Perceived usefulness
Perceived usefulness can be defined as “the degree to which a
student believes that using a system would enhance his or her
academic success and performance” (Davis, 1989). This construct is
identical to several other constructs, including “relative advantage”
in the DOI (Rogers, 2010) and “performance expectancy” in the
UTAUT (Venkatesh et al., 2003). The functionalities of cloud
Knowledge
Creation and
Discovery
Knowledge
Application
H9
H1
0
Innovativeness
Perceived
Ease of Use
Attitude
H2
H8
H7
Perceived
usefulness
H3
H6
H4
Knowledge
Sharing
H5
Knowledge
Storage
Training and
Education
Fig. 1. The research model.
H1
Continued use
intentions
I. Arpaci / Computers in Human Behavior 70 (2017) 382e390
computing services such as file sharing and storage may provide
students effective management of knowledge. Therefore, perceived
usefulness is significantly associated with the students’ attitudes
towards using cloud computing services (H4).
3.4. Knowledge creation and discovery
Through an individual’s cognitive process as well as collaborative and social processes the knowledge is created, enlarged,
amplified, shared, and justified (Nonaka, 1994). The modes of
knowledge creation identified in the SECI model by Nonaka (1994).
Since developing new knowledge or replacing the existing
knowledge is one of the main benefits of cloud computing services,
these services may enhance the interactions between tacit and
explicit knowledge. On the other hand, the expectations of the
students for knowledge creation may significantly affect the
perceived usefulness of cloud computing services. Therefore, it is
hypothesized that the higher the expectations for knowledge creation and discovery, the higher the perceived usefulness would be
(H5).
3.5. Knowledge storage
Individuals create and acquire knowledge; however, they may
forget some of what they learn. Thus, knowledge storage constitutes an important aspect of effective knowledge management
(Alavi & Leidner, 2001). Advanced computer storage technology
such as cloud storage and synchronization services can be effective
tools in storing and accessing written information, documents, and
files. On the other hand, the expectations of the students for
knowledge storage may affect the perceived usefulness of cloud
computing services. Therefore, it is hypothesized that the higher
the expectations for knowledge storage, the higher the perceived
usefulness would be (H6).
3.6. Knowledge sharing
Knowledge sharing is exchanging experiences and knowledge
with peers in classes, teams, or communities (Wang & NOE, 2010).
Knowledge sharing occurs at various levels; “between individuals,
from individuals to groups, from individuals to explicit sources,
between groups, across groups, and from the group to the organization” (Alavi & Leidner, 2001). Cloud computing services can
facilitate knowledge sharing among students and teachers. On the
other hand, the expectations of the students for knowledge sharing
may positively affect the perceived usefulness of cloud computing
services. Accordingly, it is hypothesized that the higher the expectations for knowledge sharing, the higher the perceived usefulness would be (H7).
3.7. Knowledge application
“The source of competitive advantage resides in the application
of knowledge rather than knowledge itself” (Alavi & Leidner, 2001).
Cloud computing services may reduce the need for coordination
and communication, specifically, in group projects where students
work simultaneously on the same document. Thereby, these services enable more efficient management of knowledge through
timely and flexible routing of files and documents. On the other
hand, the expectations of the students for knowledge application
may have positive effects on the perceived usefulness of cloud
computing services. Therefore, it is hypothesized that the higher
the expectations for knowledge application, the higher the
perceived usefulness would be (H8).
385
3.8. Innovativeness
Innovation can be defined as the development or adoption of
new behaviors or ideas that may pertain to a technology, service,
product, system, or practice (Amabile, 1988; Damanpour &
Wischnevsky, 2006). Innovativeness is defined as “the degree to
which an individual is relatively earlier in adopting new ideas than
the other members of a system” (Rogers, 2010, p. 22). This suggest
that being open to new ideas and frequently exploring new products determine the level of personal innovativeness. Arpaci (2015)
and Liu, Li, and Carlsson (2010) found that personal innovativeness is significantly associated with the perceived ease of use of
mobile learning. In another study, Thong (1999) identified innovativeness of the CEO is significantly related to the information
systems adoption in businesses. Accordingly, innovativeness is
significantly associated with the perceived ease of use (H9).
3.9. Training and education
Students’ technical skills and knowledge gained from training
and education on cloud computing services may play a significant
role in the ease of use of these services. In previous TAM studies in
educational settings, the impact of internal ICT support/training has
been found important to understand technology acceptance (i.e.
Tondeur, Van Keer, van Braak, & Valcke, 2008). If the students
believe that they are already adept at using the key features of these
services during the training program, they would be aware and less
concerned with the adverse learning curve effect. Therefore,
training and education are significantly associated with the
perceived ease of use (H10).
4. Method
4.1. Research design
To make this study ecologically valid, the study was conducted
in the authentic learning environment during regularly scheduled
IT classes that lasted 14 weeks. At the start of the study, each
participant was administered a paper based pretest consisting of 40
questions to measure the conceptual knowledge in cloud
computing and knowledge management. The training program
introduced the participants to the fundamentals of knowledge
management, knowledge management systems, and cloud
computing.
The training program allowed the participants to transfer the
theoretical knowledge acquired into the practical field. The participants have created an account for a cloud computing service,
Dropbox. This cloud storage and synchronization service provided
the participants a free space to manage their files and documents.
They were given a topic to investigate in external databases and
store the documents and files using the cloud storage and synchronization service. Thereby, the participants have experienced
use of the cloud storage and synchronization services for the group
projects, where they work collaboratively on the same documents.
During their project, they have extensively shared documents and
knowledge with group members. At the end of the intervention, the
participants were completed the posttest that was identical to the
pretest. Finally, an online survey was administered to the participants by using an Internet based surveying system, Qualtrics.
4.2. Sample
The target population for this research is undergraduate students. From this population, a total of 221 students from a public
university in Turkey were participated in this study. The
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I. Arpaci / Computers in Human Behavior 70 (2017) 382e390
participants’ ages ranged from 17 to 29 years (mean ¼ 19.54,
SD ¼ 1.92). 68.3% of the participants were freshmen, 13.6% were
juniors, and 18.1% were seniors. Further, 148 (%67) participants
were women. All participants have received a pre-test and post-test
and trained by the researcher. The participants had little previous
knowledge about cloud computing services prior to participating.
This limited prior knowledge was verified through the analysis of
the participants’ pretest scores that reflected their low prior
knowledge.
4.3. Instrument
The questionnaire items were carefully designed in an attempt
to obtain face and content validity. A preliminary questionnaire was
prepared by using questionnaire the items that had been tested in
prior studies. In preparing the candidate items, the prior studies on
knowledge management and technology adoption were reviewed.
The preliminary instrument items were tailored to the use of cloud
computing services for knowledge management. A pilot study was
conducted with this questionnaire to further improve the content
validity. Based on the results, some items were eliminated or
rephrased to minimize ambiguities. The main study was conducted
by using the questionnaire items, which were finalized based on
the pilot study.
A scale developed by Davis (1989) was used to measure the
perceived ease of use and usefulness. In addition, the items
measuring attitudes and continued use intentions were adapted
from the TPB (Ajzen, 1991). The items measuring knowledge creation, storage, sharing, and application, innovativeness, and training
and education were adapted from the relevant literature (Alavi &
Leidner, 2001; Becerra-Fernandez, Gonzalez, & Sabherwal, 2004;
Pee & Kankanhalli, 2009; Wang & Qualls, 2007). Thus, the instrument has a total of 33 items, including 3 items for knowledge
creation, 3 items for knowledge storage, 3 items for knowledge
sharing, 3 items for knowledge application, 3 items for training and
education, 4 items for innovativeness, 3 items for perceived ease of
use, 5 items for perceived usefulness, 3 items for attitudes, and 3
items for continued use intentions. The participants were asked to
rate their level of agreement by using a five-point Likert scale
ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree.”
5. Results
5.1. Pretest-posttest results
A paired samples t-test was employed to compare the participants’ learning before and after the intervention. The mean posttest
score (M ¼ 77, SD ¼ 1.8) was significantly higher than the mean
pretest score (M ¼ 59, SD ¼ 1.7), (t ¼ 11.64, p < 0.001). This implies
the participants had significant learning by participating in the
instruction.
5.2. Instrument validity and reliability
The data set was examined for the adequacy of factor analysis
through with Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy and Bartlett’s test of sphericity (Bartlett, 1951; Kaiser, 1970).
Table 1 shows the suitability of the data set for the factor analysis.
Both the KMO and Bartlett’s test of sphericity results verified the
sampling adequacy of the data set for factorability.
An exploratory factor analysis was employed by using principal
components extraction to examine the construct validity of the
scale. The KMO measure of sampling adequacy is well above the
accepted level of 0.50 and Bartlett’s test of sphericity suggested the
measures for the constructs are interdependent (Leech, Barrett, &
Table 1
The suitability of the data for factor analysis.
Continued use intentions
Attitude
Perceived ease of use
Perceived usefulness
Knowledge creation and discovery
Knowledge storage
Knowledge sharing
Knowledge application
Innovativeness
Training and education
KMO
Chi-square
Sig.
0.72
0.71
0.71
0.85
0.69
0.69
0.63
0.67
0.77
0.63
281.29
318.67
234.09
677.41
145.14
186.80
87.29
148.24
272.36
138.86
0.001
0.001
0.001
0.001
0.001
0.001
0.001
0.001
0.001
0.001
Morgan, 2005). Further, each measurement item has a communality value above 0.52 and a factor loading above 0.72; both are
higher than the acceptable level of 0.40 (Field, 2005). The corrected
item total correlation coefficients ranged from 0.42 to 0.89, suggesting the homogeneity of the measurement items (Scherer,
Wiebe, Luther, & Adams, 1988).
The AVE (average variance extracted) values exceed 0.50 (Hair,
Anderson, Tatham, & Black, 2006), suggesting the adequate
convergent validity of the constructs. Discriminant validity was
checked using the correlation matrix of the latent variables. The
results identified that the square root of the AVE values are greater
than the inter-construct correlations (Fornell & Larcker, 1981).
Thus, discriminant validity was satisfactory for the constructs.
Finally, the reliability analysis results suggested the instrument has
a satisfactory internal consistency in that the Cronbach’s alpha
values ranged from 0.67 to 0.93 (Creswell, 2005). The internal
consistency reliability measures, results of principal component
analysis, and the convergent validity measures (AVE and CR,
Composite Reliability) were provided in Table 2.
5.3. Common method bias
Harman’s one factor test was employed to check commonmethod bias by using a common latent factor in “Analysis of
Moment Structures” AMOS (Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee, &
Podsakoff, 2003). Results of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)
indicated the one factor model do not fit the data; [c2/df ¼ 3.63,
GFI ¼ 0.55, AGFI ¼ 0.49, NFI ¼ 0.55, IFI ¼ 0.63, SRMR ¼ 0.29,
RMR ¼ 0.22, NNFI ¼ 0.60, CFI ¼ 0.68, RMSEA ¼ 0.109]. The results
suggested the common-method bias is not a threat to the validity of
the model.
5.4. The structural model
The structural equation modeling analysis was conducted using
AMOS to validate the research model. The structural model produced acceptable fit indices: [x2/df ¼ 1.98, GFI ¼ 0.85, AGFI ¼ 0.81,
NNFI ¼ 0.88, NFI ¼ 0.82, CFI ¼ 0.90, IFI ¼ 0.90, RMSEA ¼ 0.067].
Value of the Chi-square/df is 1.98; according to Kline (2005), a ratio
of less than three is acceptable, while a ratio of less than two is
good. Results of the CFA suggested that the scales used in the
present study form an adequate measurement model, therefore,
provided the evidences for construct validity of the measures.
5.5. Hypothesis testing
The hypothesized relationships were tested by path analysis
using structural equation modeling. Except for the path coefficients
between the “knowledge application” to “perceived usefulness”
being rejected (H8), the rest hypotheses were accepted. Fig. 2
shows the results of the analysis, including the standardized path
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I. Arpaci / Computers in Human Behavior 70 (2017) 382e390
Table 2
Validity and reliability evidence.
Construct
Knowledge creation
and discovery
Knowledge storage
Knowledge sharing
Knowledge application
Innovativeness
Training and education
Perceived ease of use
Perceived usefulness
Item
KC1: Students should make
documentation and reports regarding
their courses.
KC2: Class activities promoting
knowledge creation such as proposal
writing and project development
should be given more attention.
KC3: Students should be encouraged to
produce publications from their project
and research reports.
KSt1: There should be an easily
accessible archive to store documents
and reports.
KSt2: Documents and reports should be
organized to be accessed anytime and
anyplace.
KSt3: Documents and reports should be
stored in retrievable form.
KSh1: Digital platforms are necessary to
share knowledge.
KSh2: Students should use formal
networks/media for information
exchange with peers.
KSh3: There should be collaboration
based on the competency of students.
KA1: Previous experiences and
knowledge should be used to tackle any
problems.
KA2: Previous experiences and
knowledge should be used in the
decision making process.
KA3: Previous experiences and
knowledge should be employed in
problem solving.
In1: Well-managed knowledge due to
cloud computing services enhance my
innovativeness.
In2: I welcome new ideas.
In3: I frequently explore new products.
In4: I often buy new products first.
TE1: A formal education program is
needed to introduce use of cloud
services for knowledge management.
TE2: The training helped me to develop
skills in using cloud computing services
to achieve knowledge management.
TE3: The training taught me how to use
cloud computing services for the
management of knowledge.
PEU1: Learning to use cloud computing
services would be easy for me.
PEU2: My interaction with cloud
computing services would be clear and
understandable.
PEU3: It would be easy for me to
become skillful at using cloud
computing services for knowledge
management.
PU1: Using cloud computing services
would improve my academic
performance.
PU2: Using cloud computing services
would increase the efficiency of my
studies and work.
PU3: Using cloud computing services
would make it easier to manage
knowledge.
PU4: Using cloud computing services in
knowledge management would
increase my productivity.
Internal reliability
Convergent validity
Cronbach’s alpha Item-total Factor loading Communality Total variance CR
correlation
explained
AVE
0.74
0.55
0.80
0.64
0.58
0.82
0.67
0.57
0.82
0.67
0.57
0.80
0.64
0.67
0.87
0.75
0.61
0.83
0.70
0.50
0.86
0.74
0.51
0.86
0.74
0.42
0.72
0.52
0.56
0.81
0.65
0.62
0.85
0.72
0.52
0.78
0.60
0.80
0.57
0.76
0.72
0.65
0.66
0.59
0.51
0.77
0.67
0.74
0.93
0.90
65.99
0.68
0.51
69.46
0.80
0.57
73.66
0.67
0.51
65.83
0.77
0.53
0.57
62.69
0.82
0.53
0.82
0.82
0.77
0.78
0.66
0.68
0.60
0.60
63.78
0.67
0.51
0.64
0.87
0.75
0.47
0.75
0.56
0.84
0.84
0.71
73.52
0.84
0.64
0.89
0.88
0.77
0.85
0.85
0.72
0.70
0.80
0.64
71.67
0.84
0.63
0.74
0.83
0.69
0.80
0.88
0.77
0.78
0.87
0.76
(continued on next page)
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I. Arpaci / Computers in Human Behavior 70 (2017) 382e390
Table 2 (continued )
Construct
Item
Internal reliability
Convergent validity
Cronbach’s alpha Item-total Factor loading Communality Total variance CR
correlation
explained
PU5: Using cloud computing services
would enable me to accomplish tasks
more quickly.
Attitude
AT1: Using cloud computing services
0.86
for educational purposes is a good idea.
AT2: Using cloud computing services
for educational purposes is fun.
AT3: Using cloud computing services to
manage knowledge is pleasant.
0.85
Continued use intentions IU1: I intend to use cloud computing
services for educational purposes in the
future.
IU2: I predict that I would continue to
use cloud computing services for
educational purposes.
IU3: I plan to use cloud computing
services to manage knowledge in the
future.
coefficients along with significance levels and the R-squared values
with respected error terms. The paths specified in the model account for 56% of the variance continued use intentions.
A summary of the hypothesis testing results is as follows:
H1. Attitudes toward using cloud computing services are significantly associated with the continued use intentions (b ¼ .75;
t ¼ 9.04; p < 0.001).
H2. Perceived ease of use is significantly associated with the attitudes toward using cloud computing services (b ¼ .23; t ¼ 3.14;
p < 0.01).
H3. Perceived ease of use is significantly associated with the
perceived usefulness (b ¼ .42; t ¼ 5.80; p < 0.001).
H4. Perceived usefulness is significantly associated with the attitudes toward using cloud computing services (b ¼ .59; t ¼ 6.74;
p < 0.001).
H5. The higher the expectations for knowledge creation and discovery, the higher the perceived usefulness would be (b ¼ .18;
t ¼ 2.60; p < 0.05).
H6. The higher the expectations for knowledge storage, the higher
the perceived usefulness would be (b ¼ .27; t ¼ 3.91; p < 0.001).
H7. The higher the expectations for knowledge sharing, the higher
the perceived usefulness would be (b ¼ .55; t ¼ 5.97; p < 0.001).
H8. The higher the expectations for knowledge application, the
higher the perceived usefulness would be (b ¼ .11; t ¼ 1.72;
p > 0.05).
H9. Innovativeness is significantly associated with the perceived
ease of use (b ¼ .48; t ¼ 5.88; p < 0.001).
H10. Training and education are significantly associated with the
perceived ease of use of cloud computing services (b ¼ .18; t ¼ 2.43;
p < 0.05).
6. Discussion and conclusion
6.1. Discussion
This study hypothesized that the perceived ease of use and the
expectations for knowledge management practices are significantly
0.75
0.85
0.72
0.67
0.84
0.71
0.75
0.89
0.80
0.79
0.91
0.83
0.67
0.85
0.72
0.74
0.89
0.80
0.73
0.88
0.78
AVE
78.16
0.87
0.70
76.61
0.87
0.68
associated with the perceived usefulness, which in turn significantly associated with the attitudes towards using cloud computing
services. The results indicated that the perceived ease of use and
the expectations for knowledge creation and discovery, storage,
and sharing are significantly associated with the perceived usefulness, and therefore, provided support for these hypotheses.
However, the results indicated that there is no causal relationship between the expectations for knowledge application and
perceived usefulness. This suggests that the students do not expect
to use knowledge in decision making or to solve problems in the
school setting. In other words, contrary to the organizational level,
knowledge application have limited applicability at the individual
level. This implies that organizations more effectively apply
knowledge for decision making. For example, decision support
systems and enterprise applications help organizations applying
knowledge in the decision making process (Laudon & Laudon,
2012).
Confirming the TAM, the results indicated the attitudes are
significantly associated with the continued use intentions. The results also indicated that training and education are significantly
associated with the perceived ease of use, which has a significant
effect on the attitudes towards using cloud computing services.
This implies that the expectations for training and education are
significantly associated with their ease of use perceptions. Further,
the results also indicated that innovativeness is significantly associated with the ease of use perceptions. This implies that level of
personal innovativeness has a positive correlation with the
perceived ease of use of a new technology.
The present study focused on the advantages of cloud
computing services. On the other hand, previous studies reported
notable disadvantages of the cloud computing services. For
example, Chu et al. (2013) identified several weaknesses and security concerns for the cloud computing services, such as potential
data leakage, unauthorized secret URL sharing, non-dead URL,
uncertain identities, and no privacy on sharing. In another study,
Shin (2015) found that user intentions toward adoption of cloud
computing services are affected by the perceived values such as
security, access, availability, and reliability. Similarly, Paquette,
Jaeger, and Wilson (2010) identified some important risks associated with use of the cloud computing services as the continuity,
reliability, security, safety, privacy, data confidentiality, and legal
jurisdiction.
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I. Arpaci / Computers in Human Behavior 70 (2017) 382e390
Knowledge
Creation and
Discovery
**
*
**
-.11
ns
.48
.18
*
Innovativeness
*
**
***
Knowledge
Application
.59
*
.55
Perceived
usefulness
Perceived
Ease of Use
R2 = .51, e = .16
Attitude
.23
**
.27
R2 = .60, e = .16
.42***
**
Knowledge
Sharing
.18
Knowledge
Storage
R2 = .56, e = .23
.75***
Continued use
intentions
R2 = .26, e = .47
Training and
Education
*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001, Chi-Square = 591.09, DF = 298, Chi-Square/DF =1.98
Fig. 2. The hypothesis testing results.
Rong, Nguyen, and Jaatun (2013) reported possible security
challenges in cloud services such as interoperability among clouds,
resource location, privacy, security, trust, and authentication.
Gupta, Seetharaman, and Raj (2013) investigated the adoption of
cloud services by SMEs. The results suggested the key determining
factors as ease of use, privacy, security, convenience, and cost
reduction. In another study, Marston, Li, Bandyopadhyay, Zhang,
and Ghalsasi (2011) identified some strengths (i.e., cost reduction,
scalability, and immediate access), weaknesses (i.e., data location,
service quality, and availability), opportunities (i.e., effectiveness),
and threats (i.e., security and reliability) of cloud services from an
lez-Martínez, Bote-Lorenzo,
organizational perspective. Gonza
mez-S
Go
anchez, and Cano-Parra (2015) reported the benefits of
cloud services for the educational institutions as availability, flexibility, scalability, and cost savings. However, they reported some
important risks of cloud services as reliability, privacy, security,
interoperability, performance, and licensing.
6.2. Implications for research and practice
This study has several research implications. First, the research
model, which extends the TAM, explains a substantial variance in
continued use intentions (56%). Second, the TAM provides very
general information on the students’ adoption of cloud computing
services to achieve knowledge management, whereas the proposed
model delivers more specific information by situational variables
such as knowledge creation and discovery, storage, sharing, and
application.
This study has also several practical implications for educational
institutions and academics. First, the students are expected to
effectively use cloud computing services for knowledge management, however, the findings suggested that most of them were not
aware of such services before the intervention. This implies that
academics should direct and scaffold students in effective use of
cloud computing services. Second, academics should employ new
pedagogies that focus on interactive systems for inquiry-based
pedagogies and collaborative workspaces. By this, the advantages
of use of cloud computing services in education such as allowing
students ubiquitous access to up to date knowledge and providing
platforms for sharing reference materials can be fully exploited.
Educational institutions may also utilize the advantages of cloud
computing services in designing collaborative learning environments in which students and academics can share and enrich
teaching materials.
6.3. Conclusion
Cloud computing services provide students access and synchronize their digital reference materials any time, from anywhere,
and using any device. Thereby, integration of cloud computing
services into the educational settings may promote students’ academic performance, effectiveness, and efficiency by facilitating
knowledge management. Therefore, this study investigated antecedents and consequences of cloud computing adoption in education to achieve knowledge management.
This study has several limitations. First, the sample size is
limited and a larger sample size is required to further generalize.
Second, the prior knowledge and experience of the students may
have an effect on the outcomes of the study and act as a moderator.
In a future study, a multi-group analysis that differentiates the
participants with regards to their prior knowledge and experience
with cloud computing services may lead to improved insights.
Third, focusing only on the students’ adoption mindset but
neglecting academics’ readiness is a limitation as this is a critical
point in technology integration in education. Therefore, future
research should focus on how academics think about the real
process of integrating such services into the educational system, as
this integration needs to be addressed with regard to various
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I. Arpaci / Computers in Human Behavior 70 (2017) 382e390
educational aspects, including curriculum and pedagogy, institutional readiness, change management, and instructor competencies. To achieve such an integration, not only the students are
expected to be supportive of the new learning methodologies; academics and universities also need to be equipped with the acquired skills and literacy to deliver on promises of the emerging
technologies.
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