Technology’s Impacts in the Students of Higher Education in the Covid-19 Pandemic Period

Abstract

In this period of Covid-19 pandemic, in which there were sudden changes in education, with the transition from traditional education to e-learning, it is essential to analyze the impacts related to access and use of technology in the context of e-learning, in the perception of higher education students. In this context, all students were forced to use the technology, so it is relevant to investigate the interrelationships between satisfaction with distance learning and all the components associated with the use and acceptance of technology as a support to their learning. Data were collected through a questionnaire, which includes a set of 26 items that aim to assess students’ perceptions about distance learning using six different subscales: Familiarity, Barriers, Anxiety, Usefulness, Ease of use, and Satisfaction concerning the e-learning. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) analysis was performed using Partial Least Squares (PLS), to test the validity of the constructs and the model hypotheses. The results revealed a statistically significant relationship between Satisfaction concerning the distance learning and the constructs Barriers, Ease of use and Usefulness. Based on the model used, other significant interrelationships were registered, such as familiarity with technology positively affects the ease of use of technological resources and barriers, while anxiety negatively affects the ease of use of these resources and the usefulness for students. A multigroup analysis revealed, among other results, that in the students with a moderate to high autonomy, the familiarity with technology positively affects satisfaction with e-learning comparatively to the students with low autonomy.