FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH AMOUNT OF USE AND BENEFITS OBTAINED BY USERS OF A STATEWIDE EDUCATIONAL TELECOMPUTING NETWORK

This study was designed to identify factors that best predicted the am ount and perceived benefits of network use. A 70-item electronic mail survey measured five categories of variables: personal attributes, env ironmental characteristics, perceived media characteristics, usage, an d outcomes. It was returned by 66% of a random sample of 300 network u sers. Respondents were active network users with high levels of teachi ng tenure, schooling, and computer experience, and convenient access t o equipment needed to use the Internet. Outcomes reported for network use mainly centered around professional development activities, wherea s personal and instructional outcomes were less frequently reported. M ultiple regression equations predicted 28% of amount of use, 46% of va riety of uses, 45% of professional benefits, 16% of personal gratifica tions, and 25% of instructional outcomes. Socially oriented factors ap peared repeatedly in these equations. Social integration with a commun ity of users entered all but one of the equations, social presence con tributed to the prediction of each type of outcome, and number of cont acts regularly reached via the network was associated with both amount and variety of use. These findings suggested that network facilitator s should implement strategies to increase interactions among potential and current network users and to enhance perceptions of the systems' social presence.