Correlations between Usage and technology acceptance of Web 2.0 applications Wenhao David Huang Department of Human Resource Education University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign wdhuang@illinois.edu Sun Joo Yoo Department of Human Resource Education University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Yoo23@illinois.edu Abstract: This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the usage and technology acceptance of Web 2.0 applications among college students. 449 individuals voluntarily participated in the study in spring 2009. The survey consisted of 95 items drawn from selected categories from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). The results indicated significant relationships between the usage and technology acceptance on seven Web 2.0 applications (Blog, WIKI, instant messengers, online social community/Facebook, online video sharing/YouTube, online games, social virtual environment/Second Life). The results showed that students were more strongly influenced by perceptions of performance expectancy and effort expectancy of blogs, wikis, and online virtual communities. Additionally, students were strongly influenced by perceptions of effort expectancy of instant messengers, online games, and online video sharing. These findings also suggest that educators should take into consideration factors of technology acceptance in design and selection of Web 2.0 applications in class room settings. The limitation of the study includes a small sample size and direct and indirect factors influencing participants’ response such as limited technical infrastructure. Introduction Today, college students use Web 2.0 applications more frequently than checking their university-issued email accounts. Applications such as blog, instant messenger, WIKI, video sharing tool, and web conferencing tools are gaining popularity. Students use them to create their own content on the web, contribute and collaborate with others, and develop social networks via multiple formats of media and representation (O’Reilly, 2005). These activities suggest the possibility of using Web 2.0 applications for instructional purposes and raises the question of which motivators influence user acceptance and usage (Lee, Cheung, & Chen, 2005). User acceptance and usage are the primary measures of the successful utilization of tools and should be taken into consideration by instructors. Educators are interested in using Web 2.0 applications, also need more empirical evidence to help them integrate Web 2.0 tools in their instructional environments. Therefore this study was designed to address those issues as an effort to promote the utilization of Web 2.0 applications to enhance learning experiences. Specifically we were interested in which technology acceptance factors most influence students’ utilization of Web 2.0 tools in the context of learning as an important first step for educators to design and develop an efficient learning environment (Curry, 1987; Marshall, 1987; Federico, 2000). This study intended to answer the following questions:  How do students accept different Web 2.0 applications?  What is the empirical relationship between the usage of Web 2.0 applications and technology acceptance? In the following sections we provide a brief overview of Web 2.0 applications and technology acceptance, methodology of the study, preliminary data analysis and results, and finally we discuss the implications of our finding and how they inform the design of an efficient Web 2.0-enriched learning environment. Web 2.0 Applications for Learning According to Time magazine (2007), the millions of web users are uploading contents on YouTube, and MySpace daily, which evidences a conspicuous growth of Web 2.0 applications. According to Anderson (2007), Web 2.0 is a collective term describing a group of web-based technologies that broaden users’ communication capabilities and options. Blogs facilitate the publication of knowledge, reflection, and knowledge construction (Ferdig & Trammell, 2004). According to Kerawalla, Minocha, Kirkup, & Conole (2008), blogs are used by students to build community,