Evaluating the task-technology fit of e-readers in the South African secondary school environment

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the task-technology fit of e-book readers in the South African secondary school environment. Many information system performance models put a large focus on the user’s intention to use the system. For educational e-book reader evaluations this is different, as learners are not always given a choice between e-books and printed books. A case study of the EduReader, a popular South African e-reader used in secondary schools, was presented to highlight the current technology characteristics of this e-reader. Learners who use the e-book reader in South African schools were interviewed. The interview data and the case study were used to identify the task requirements of secondary school learners and the technology characteristics of the EduReader e-reader. Task requirements were identified from interview transcripts using process and descriptive coding across the data set. The resulting model shows a set of the technology characteristics of the EduReader e-reader and the task requirements of its users, identifying the gaps in the e-book reader’s technology characteristics. A model was presented that shows the fit between task requirements and technology characteristics as a precursor of e-book utilisation in South African secondary schools. This model can be reused by researchers in a generic fashion to determine the task-technology fit of other e-book readers in South African secondary schools. As a practical contribution this dissertation presented a set of task-technology fit guidelines in the form of 30 true/false statements that e-book developers/designers can apply when developing an e-book reader for the South African secondary educational sector. The guidelines are categorised per task requirement identified in this dissertation and developers can exclude sections which are not applicable to the application they develop.