Exploring Teacher Acceptance of e-Learning Technology

In this small-scale quantitative study, self-reported questionnaires were collected from 152 in-service teachers studying in a university part-time program to investigate their acceptance towards an e-learning platform, Interactive Learning Network (ILN). The Technology Acceptance Theory (TAM) was used as the core framework for analysis while additional constructs were added in order to find a better model to understand teacher acceptance of e-learning technology. A composite model including five constructs, namely, intention to use, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, subjective norm, and computer self-efficacy, were formed and tested in the empirical field environment. It was found that subjective norm and computer self-efficacy serve as the two significant perception anchors of the fundamental constructs, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness in the TAM. However, contrary to previous literature, perceived ease of use became the sole determinant to the prediction of intention to use, while perceived usefulness was non-significant to the prediction of intention to use. This seems to indicate that the applicability of TAM is uncertain in the educational context as well as the distinctive characteristics of e-learning technology.