Predicting secondary school teachers' acceptance and use of a digital learning environment: A cross-sectional study

Available online 3 November 2010 Keywords: Technology acceptance UTAUT Digital learning environment Teacher Observed use 1. Introduction I’ve come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies: (1) Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. (2) Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can prob- ably get a career in it. (3) Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things. Douglas Adams (Adams, 2003), The Salmon of Doubt, p. 95. In today’s information society, computers and the Internet are omnipresent, and their importance is only likely to rise. This is also the case in education where there is an increased use of Abbreviations: DLE, digital learning environment; EE, effort expectancy; FC, facilitating conditions; IS, information system; PE, performance expectancy; SI, social influence; TAM, technology acceptance model; TRA, theory of reasoned action; UTAUT, unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +32 9 3326528; fax: +32 9 3324421. E-mail addresses: Bram.Pynoo@UGent.be (B. Pynoo), Pieter.Devolder@UZGent.be (P. Devolder), Jo.Tondeur@UGent.be (J. Tondeur), Johan.vanBraak@UGent.be (J. van Braak), Wouter.Duyck@UGent.be (W. Duyck), Philippe.Duyck@UZGent.be (P. Duyck). 0747-5632/$ - see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2010.10.005 abstract In this study, secondary school teachers’ acceptance of a digital learning environment (DLE) was investi- gated. Questionnaires were taken on three times (T1/T2/T3) during the same school year, with the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) as theoretical framework. Next to questionnaires, user-logs were collected during the entire school year. A total of 72 teachers completed a questionnaire on at least one occasion: 64 teachers responded at T1, 41 at T2, and 55 at T3. We first investigated which factors influence teachers’ acceptance of a DLE. The main predictors of DLE acceptance were performance expectancy and social influence by superiors to use the DLE. Effort expectancy and facilitating conditions were of minor importance. We then investigated how well the amount of final observed use could be pre- dicted, and found that at T1 about one third, at T2 about one fourth and at T3 about half of the variance in observed use was predicted by attitude, behavioral intention and self-reported frequency of use. Our study showed that to maximize use of a DLE, its usefulness should be demonstrated, while school boards or principals should strongly encourage teachers to (start to) use the DLE.status: publishe