我們為何使用部落格？部落格之接受、使用、與應用研究

Abstract

部落格的使用在近幾年呈現爆炸性的成長。部落格被認為是一種運用網路資訊技術的互動媒體，因為其容易使用與互動的特性，而吸引廣大的使用群，也創造出廣泛的應用。例如企業用於行銷，教育用於促進學習等應用。然而，哪些因素吸引我們使用部落格，以及部落格的應用能幫我們做什麼，都是值得探討的問題。因此，本文的研究目的將探討部落格的接受與使用行為，以及部落格的實際應用效果。 本文由兩個研究所組成，第一個研究將從媒體選擇與科技接受因素來探討部落格的接受與使用行為。媒體選擇因素包括：媒體豐富度、關鍵數量、媒體經驗、與社會影響。科技接受因素包括：有用性、與易用性。我們提出一個媒體選擇與科技接受因素影響使用者態度與使用意願的假設模型。使用線上調查法收集521個樣本資料，並使用線性結構模型來檢定模型與假設。研究結果顯示，媒體選擇與科技接受因素正向影響使用者對使用部落格的態度與使用意願。 第二個研究將探討部落格的應用效果。本研究架設兩個教學部落格平台，比較互動式部落格與孤立式部落格對學生同儕互動、學習動機與學業成就的影響。孤立式部落格平台只是提供學生線上撰寫作業功能，互動式部落格平台則在學生線上撰寫作業後必須進行彼此評論。此研究使用準實驗設計法，進行兩學期154個學生樣本的比較研究。研究結果顯示，使用互動式部落格相對於使用孤立式部落格的組別，對於同儕互動與學習動機都呈現較正向態度。而部落格平台提供同儕共同工作的功能，不論在互動式或是孤立式的組別，都可以提高學習動機。最後，並提供相關的建議及意涵。

Blogs, or weblogs, have been experiencing a rapid growth rate in recent years. Blogs are easy to use and possess interactive features, thus attracting wide use and leading them to be regarded as communication media in web-based information technology. Therefore, blogs have become an increasingly popular form of communication on websites, and have been adopted by users for several applications in domains such as journalism, business, and education. However, why do so many people like to use blogs? What blog applications can do for us? The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the blog acceptance and usage behaviors, and its applications. This thesis contains two studies. The first study incorporates the technology acceptance model with media choice factors to explain and predict the blog acceptance behaviors. The media choice factors include media richness, critical mass, social influence, and media experience. The technology acceptance factors include perceived usefulness and perceived ease-of-use. An online field survey was conducted and the structure equation modeling method was applied to investigate the empirical strength of the relationships in the proposed model. 521 experienced blog users were surveyed to examine this model. The results strongly support the proposed hypotheses indicating that technology acceptance and media choice factors influence the blog acceptance behaviors. The second study explores the usage of blogs in education setting, and how student attitudes towards online peer interaction and peer learning, as well as motivation to learn from peers, may differ when using the blog comments feature, and when students are encouraged to read and comment on each other’s work. We contrast two ways blogs affect learning engagement: (a) solitary blogs as personal digital portfolios for writers; or (b) blogs used interactively to facilitate peer interaction by exposing blogging content and comments to peers. A quasi-experiment was conducted across two semesters, involving 154 graduate and undergraduate students. The result suggests that interactive blogs, compared to solitary blogs, are associated with positive attitudes towards academic achievement in course subjects and in online peer interaction. Students showed positive motivation to learn from peer work, regardless of whether blogs were interactive or solitary. The implications and recommendations resulting from the two studies are provided.