The efforts of educators in the last three decades have, among other things, focused on the use of information technology (IT) in education. It has become commonplace to view information systems both as an effective carrier of course content as well as a cost-effective tool to improve student learning outcomes. One of such technologies is the e-book. Decision-makers in the education field need make sense of this technological transformation. However, despite the growing popularity of e-books in higher education, its adoption by students is yet to be crystalized. This study exploits the technology acceptance model (TAM) framework to examine student acceptance of e-textbooks as “internally” impacted by technology innovativeness and “externally” influenced by system exposure. The results showed that students’ technology innovativeness is associated with student acceptance of e-textbooks and that system exposure was a strong moderator of the TAM relationships. The findings suggest that students’ openness to new technology, in general, is likely to positively affect the adoption of a specific new instructional technology. Additionally, system exposure was found to be a significant moderator of the TAM relationships. It is concluded that students’ technology innovativeness and system exposure must therefore be factored into instructional technology usage decision-making models.

Abstract:The US healthcare system is clearly experiencing a major transition. By 2015, the healthcare sector is expected to have migrated from a paper record system to a completely electronic health record (EHR) system. The adoption and use of these systems are expected to increase legibility, reduce costs, limit medical errors and improve the overall quality of healthcare. Hence, the US government is investing $70 billion over a 10-year period to facilitate the transition to an electronic system. However, early reports show that physicians and nurses among other health professionals continue to resist the full use of the system. This paper uses the theory of cognitive dissonance to investigate user resistance in HIT. It builds on a Lapointe and Rivard (2005) framework to offer an explanation as to why people resist HITs. A conceptual model is developed and tested. The findings, implications, and limitations of the study are also discussed.

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The efforts of the United States government in the past 15 years have included harnessing the power of health information technology (HIT) to improve legibility, lessen medical errors, keep costs low, and elevate the quality of healthcare. However, user resistance is still a barrier to overcome in order to achieve desired outcomes. Understanding the nature of resistance is key to successfully increasing the adoption of HIT systems. Previous research has showed that perceived threats are a significant antecedent of user resistance; however, its nature and role have remained vastly unexplored. This study uses the psychological reactance theory to explain both the nature and role of perceived threats in HIT-user resistance. The study shows that perceived helplessness over process and perceived dissatisfaction over outcomes are two unique instances of perceived threats. Additionally, the results reveal that resistance to healthcare information systems can manifest as reactance, distrust, scrutiny, or inertia. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

The Northern Michigan University (NMU) online campus, fondly known as the “Global Campus,” is now 5 years old. Launched in 2016, this online and distance education initiative had as its mission to create academic programs that meet students’ learning and service needs “at the same high standard we do for on-campus students” (NMU). This was a kind of organic final step in the journey of digital transformation that began sixteen years before. Nonetheless, how does NMU make a pivot from 117 years of traditional face-to-face learning model to create value and compete in the digital education space? Worse still, when the Covid-19 global pandemic hits in March 2020 and the campus is forced to shut down (mandating all face-to-face teaching and learning, and to transition to online delivery within just two business days and a weekend); how does the university handle this new set of challenges as its online model gets tested in real-time? The story of NMU’s evolution to online education is told by intrinsic and extrinsic factors including declining enrollments due to changing local economics and regional demographics, an old business model now compounded by a global pandemic. This mix of factors would seem to present NMU with both an opportunity to refine its online model and some new challenges to overcome. This evolution also speaks to the importance of having an overarching digital strategy that can drive true digital transformation.