Gender Analysis of Student's Intention to Use of Telegram Social Network in Educational Activities (The Case of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad)

Due to the increasing number of users’ Telegram social network in Iran especially among the young and educated people, it seems that the study of use of such networks is important particularly in educational activities. Given the importance of the issue, the purpose of this descriptive- correlative research was to study the factors affecting students’ intention to use of Telegram social network in educational activities with focusing on moderating effect of gender. The statistical population of the research consisted of all M.Sc. students of agricultural majors at the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (N= 767). According to the Bartlett et al. Table, a sample size of 196 students was selected using a stratified random sampling technique. A standard questionnaire (after adjusting the questions with the field of research) was employed to collect data. The results showed that two variables of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness had a positive and significant effect on attitude toward using of Telegram in educational activities, whereas, there was not a significant relationship between perceived usefulness and the attitude. Also, the attitude had a positive and significant effect on agricultural students’ intention to use of Telegram in educational activities. The results of multi-group analysis indicated that gender had a moderating effect on the relationship between perceived ease of use and attitude toward using of Telegram in educational activities, so that the relationship was non-significant for female students, whereas it was positive and significant for male students.