Modelling technology acceptance in education: A study of pre-service teachers

The purpose of the study is to build a model that predicts the level of technology acceptance by pre-service teachers at a teacher training institute in Singapore. It examines relationships among variables associated with factors that influence technology acceptance. Data was collected from 475 participants using a survey questionnaire. Employing structural equation modelling, a hypothesized model was tested for model fit in the study. The resulting model is found to have a good fit. Perceived usefulness, attitude towards computer use, and computer self-efficacy have direct effect on pre-service teachers' technology acceptance, whereas perceived ease of use, technological complexity, and facilitating conditions affect technology acceptance indirectly. These six variables account for approximately 27.1% of the variance of behavioural intention. Perceived usefulness appeared to the strongest determinant of behavioural intention.

[1]  G. Bohrnstedt,et al.  Social Measurement: Current Issues , 1981 .

[2]  Alexander Hars,et al.  Web Based Knowledge Infrastructures for the Sciences: An Adaptive Document , 2000, Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[3]  Jane M. Howell,et al.  Personal Computing: Toward a Conceptual Model of Utilization , 1991, MIS Q..

[4]  Dong Hee Shin,et al.  User acceptance of mobile Internet: Implication for convergence technologies , 2007, Interact. Comput..

[5]  Judy Drennan,et al.  Factors Affecting Student Attitudes Toward Flexible Online Learning in Management Education , 2005 .

[6]  Mun Y. Yi,et al.  Predicting the use of web-based information systems: self-efficacy, enjoyment, learning goal orientation, and the technology acceptance model , 2003, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[7]  Chang Liu,et al.  Technology acceptance model for wireless Internet , 2003, Internet Res..

[8]  C. Fornell,et al.  Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. , 1981 .

[9]  Timothy Teo,et al.  Understanding pre-service teachers' computer attitudes: applying and extending the technology acceptance model , 2007, J. Comput. Assist. Learn..

[10]  Bassam Hasan,et al.  Delineating the effects of general and system-specific computer self-efficacy beliefs on IS acceptance , 2006, Inf. Manag..

[11]  Fotini Paraskeva,et al.  Individual characteristics and computer self-efficacy in secondary education teachers to integrate technology in educational practice , 2008, Comput. Educ..

[12]  Deborah Compeau,et al.  Computer Self-Efficacy: Development of a Measure and Initial Test , 1995, MIS Q..

[13]  Victor R. Prybutok,et al.  An empirical study of online shopping: a service perspective , 2004, Int. J. Serv. Technol. Manag..

[14]  Kar Yan Tam,et al.  Understanding user acceptance of digital libraries: what are the roles of interface characteristics, organizational context, and individual differences? , 2002 .

[15]  Robert Andersson,et al.  Examining user acceptance of computer technology: an empirical study of student teachers , 2005, J. Comput. Assist. Learn..

[16]  R. P. McDonald,et al.  Principles and practice in reporting structural equation analyses. , 2002, Psychological methods.

[17]  Shu-Sheng Liaw,et al.  An investigation of user attitudes toward search engines as an information retrieval tool , 2003, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[18]  Ritu Agarwal,et al.  Are Individual Differences Germane to the Acceptance of New Information Technologies , 1999 .

[19]  Eric W. T. Ngai,et al.  Empirical examination of the adoption of WebCT using TAM , 2007, Comput. Educ..

[20]  John Ingham,et al.  Why do people use information technology? A critical review of the technology acceptance model , 2003, Inf. Manag..

[21]  N. Law,et al.  Improving IT training for serving teachers through evaluation , 1999 .

[22]  Fred D. Davis.  Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of Information Technology , 1989, MIS Q..

[23]  David Gefen,et al.  TAM or Just Plain Habit: A Look at Experienced Online Shoppers , 2003, J. Organ. End User Comput..

[24]  Yuan Gao,et al.  Applying the Technology Acceptance Model to Educational Hypermedia: A Field Study , 2005 .

[25]  Judy Chuan-Chuan Lin,et al.  Predicting customer behavior in the market-space: a study of Rayport and Sviokla's framework , 2002, Inf. Manag..

[26]  William R. King,et al.  Impacts of End-User and Information Center Characteristics on End-User Computing Support , 1994, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[27]  J. Hair.  Multivariate data analysis , 1972 .

[28]  Andrew Jones.  A review of the research literature on barriers to the uptake of ICT by teachers. , 2004 .

[29]  D. Hung,et al.  Beliefs about teaching and uses of technology among pre‐service teachers , 2008 .

[30]  Diane M. Strong,et al.  Extending the technology acceptance model with task-technology fit constructs , 1999, Inf. Manag..

[31]  Cher Ping Lim,et al.  Managing Teachers’ Barriers to ICT Integration in Singapore Schools , 2006 .

[32]  Peter Williams,et al.  The Learning Web , 2002 .

[33]  William Sugar,et al.  Examining Teachers' Decisions To Adopt New Technology , 2004, J. Educ. Technol. Soc..

[34]  Albert L. Lederer,et al.  The technology acceptance model and the World Wide Web , 2000, Decis. Support Syst..

[35]  Magid Igbaria,et al.  End-user computing effectiveness: A structural equation model , 1990 .

[36]  Jacob Cohen.  Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences , 1969, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Research Design.

[37]  Fred D. Davis,et al.  User Acceptance of Computer Technology: A Comparison of Two Theoretical Models , 1989 .

[38]  Dennis F. Galletta,et al.  Applying TAM across cultures: the need for caution , 2007, Eur. J. Inf. Syst..

[39]  Peter Scrimshaw,et al.  ENABLING TEACHERS TO MAKE SUCCESSFUL USE OF ICT , 2004 .

[40]  Waiman Cheung,et al.  Proposing a framework to assess Internet usage in university education: an empirical investigation from a student's perspective , 2005, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[41]  Detmar W. Straub,et al.  Structural Equation Modeling and Regression: Guidelines for Research Practice , 2000, Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[42]  Melissa M. Groves,et al.  Instructional Technology Adoption in Higher Education: An Action Research Case Study , 2000 .

[43]  R. Kline.  Principles and practice of structural equation modeling, 2nd ed. , 2005 .

[44]  Cynthia M. Jackson,et al.  Toward an Understanding of the Behavioral Intention to Use an Information System , 1997 .

[45]  Paul Jen-Hwa Hu,et al.  Examining technology acceptance by school teachers: a longitudinal study , 2003, Inf. Manag..

[46]  Raafat George Saadé,et al.  Mediating the impact of technology usage on perceived ease of use by anxiety , 2007, Comput. Educ..

[47]  Paul R. Yarnold,et al.  Reading and Understanding Multivariate Statistics , 1995 .

[48]  Ercan Kiraz,et al.  The Relationship between Educational Ideologies and Technology Acceptance in Pre-service Teachers , 2006, J. Educ. Technol. Soc..

[49]  Yan Xu,et al.  An Enhanced Technology Acceptance Model for Web-Based Learning , 2004, J. Inf. Syst. Educ..

[50]  Albert H. Segars,et al.  Assessing the unidimensionality of measurement : a paradigm and illustration within the context of information systems research , 1997 .

[51]  Fred D. Davis.  User Acceptance of Information Technology: System Characteristics, User Perceptions and Behavioral Impacts , 1993, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..

[52]  A. Bandura.  Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. , 1977, Psychological review.

[53]  I. Ajzen,et al.  Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research , 1977 .

[54]  Cheng-Chang Sam Pan,et al.  Students' Attitude in a Web-enhanced Hybrid Course: A Structural Equaadon Modeling Inquiry , 2003 .

[55]  A. Bandura.  Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency. , 1982 .

[56]  Rex B. Kline,et al.  Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling , 1998 .

[57]  Nicola Yelland,et al.  A Study of Pre-School Teachers' Thoughts about Computer-Assisted Instruction , 2002 .

[58]  Punya Mishra,et al.  Teaching and Learning: Whose Computer Is It? , 2000 .

[59]  Timothy Teo,et al.  A path analysis of pre-service teachers' attitudes to computer use: applying and extending the technology acceptance model in an educational context , 2010, Interact. Learn. Environ..

[60]  Girish H. Subramanian,et al.  A Replication of Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use Measurement , 1994 .

[61]  Thompson S. H. Teo,et al.  Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in Internet usage , 1999 .

[62]  T. Brown,et al.  Confirmatory Factor Analysis for Applied Research , 2006 .

[63]  Cynthia K. Riemenschneider,et al.  Understanding it adoption decisions in small business: integrating current theories , 2003, Inf. Manag..