Ekermans and Cilliers-Hartslief (2003) A user study of a synchronous software application, netmeeting, to support a virtual information sharing environment at a South African university.

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A user study of a synchronous software application, netmeeting, to support a virtual information sharing environment at a South African university.

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CONTRIBUTORS:

	Author:	Ekermans, G
	Author:	Cilliers-Hartslief, C

PROCEEDINGS TITLE:

Proceedings of 6th Annual Conference of Society for Industrial and Organisational Psychology

YEAR:

2003

PUB TYPE:

Conference Paper in Proceedings

PAGES:

n/a - n/a

SUBJECT(S):

synchronous communication, Communities of Practice, University

DISCIPLINE:

Psychology

HTTP:

http://www.siopsa.org.za/Conference/Papers03/Gina%20Ekermans.doc

LANGUAGE:

English

PUB ID:

103-398-026 (Last edited on 2003/12/18 07:12:11 US/Mountain)

SPONSOR(S):

ABSTRACT:
As the information age evolves, society is undergoing changes based on developments in technology that have tremendous implications for educational systems. Therefore, the use of the Internet and communication and information technology is increasingly becoming an important part of the learning and teaching strategies of many institutions of tertiary education. The objective of this research was to conduct an exploratory study into the usability of a synchronous software application, NetMeeting, through the use of empirical research and prototyping. This was done for application in the South-African on and off-campus tertiary education environment in order to enhance information sharing in a virtual information space (VIS) between inter alia, information service suppliers, lecturers, students and researchers. The degree to which the synchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) media adds value to the learning and information sharing processes within the VIS, will however be influenced by the usability of the software application (the desktop-based video conferencing system – NetMeeting), in which the synchronous media (e.g. whiteboard or chat), are embedded. Subsequently, the nature of the research process and design primarily displayed the characteristics of a usability study. Both objective (quantitative data on participants’ performance recorded on a task logging sheet) and subjective measures (data obtained from the usability questionnaire) were used in order to obtain the necessary information from a sample consisting of 35 participants at the University of Stellenbosch (US). The information was obtained during a series of formative usability evaluations (controlled experiments) conducted within an environment that replicated a usability laboratory. The analysis of the information obtained consisted of descriptive statistics, as the research aimed to illustrate the participants’ attitudes concerning the usability of NetMeeting. NetMeeting was evaluated in terms of specific usability attributes (e.g. general usefulness / utility, effectiveness and efficiency etc). The subjective measurement results revealed that the majority of the participants agreed that NetMeeting displayed a high level of usability. The objective (performance) measurement results, furthermore, revealed that the participants experienced relatively little difficulty in completing the specified tasks. The general conclusion is therefore drawn that NetMeeting displayed an acceptable level of usability to be utilised effectively for the creation of a VIS, which could facilitate increased virtual learning and information sharing at the US and most likely other similar institutions of tertiary education in South Africa.

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