ICT USAGE IN HIGHER EDUCATION: PROPOSITION OF A RELATIONAL MODEL

Information and communication technologies (ICT) have been described as an important influence and a source of change in societies and competitive advantage for organizations. Focusing on the educational field, several studies have pointed out that ICT have become an essential tool for higher education and the subsequent lifelong learning (LLL). This paper extends previous literature in this field, providing a multi-item measure for graduates ICT usage, and proposing and testing a structural model that relates this construct with perceived value and satisfaction with the university. A random sample of 1000 graduates of two Spanish universities was obtained using CATI. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to estimate the measurement model composed of the variables ICT usage, perceived value and satisfaction. Results suggest a good fit of the measurement model, and indicate a statistically significant positive relationship between ICT usage and perceived value, ICT usage and satisfaction, and perceived value and satisfaction, supporting all the proposed hypotheses. Managerial implications and future research lines are also provided.