Running head: TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE MODEL IN EDUCATION SETTINGS

Technology Acceptance Model in Education Settings

Madhusudhan Madhav Badhesshi

Cumberlands University
TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE MODEL IN EDUCATION SETTINGS

Technology Acceptance Model in Education Settings

According to Dixit and Prakash (2018), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is an information

System (IS) used in modeling how users came to accept and use a given technology in regards to

system use, ease of use, and usefulness of the technology. The model suggests that when users

are presented with new technology, several factors determine how and when they will use it.

Using TAM, the distinguishing features between perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use

is well presented (Tubaishat, 2018). The concept of perceived usefulness revolves around the

expected benefits that a user can reap from exploiting a given technology while the notion of

perceived ease of use reflects more on the perceived behavioral control. In decades, TAM has

been deployed for predicting user acceptance of IS based on reasoned action. TAM components

include perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, intention to use, and actual use of the

system. 

Perceived usefulness of the technology sheds light on whether users will accept or reject -

the new tool. This element affects the user's state of mind towards using a given tool and

emphatically influences users’ convictions and expectations to using a given innovation. This

component is characterized by how much a given user uses a specific technology through the

influence of the direct and indirect impacts of the technology. It should be noted though that,

perceived ease of use does not directly affect the user’s behavioral goal as it affects the user’s

behavioral expectation via the perceived usefulness (Tubaishat, 2018). For an effective

acceptance and adoption of the technology, users find a fit between their job and the performance

outcomes of exploiting the technology. This assessment enables them in determining the

usefulness of the system based on job relevancy. Of course, if the performance outcomes are

great, most users will accept the technology else reject it.
TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE MODEL IN EDUCATION SETTINGS

Another factor user considers is the output quality of the result of the system (Putra,

2016) Any undesirable output will discredit and discourage users into adopting it while desirable

output will enhance the user’s performance resulting in accepting the system or technology.

Perceived ease of use is influenced by several factors such as computer playfulness, objective

usability, computer self-efficacy, computer anxiety, and perceptions of external control.

According to Dwivedi et al. (2019), behavioral intention and usage behavior are governed by

several elements such as the voluntariness of use, gender, social influence, performance

expectancy, age, facilitating conditions, experience, and effort expectancy. Furthermore, mood

and emotions play a major role in the adoption of new technology. The positive mood on one

side shows a significant role in the adoption of the new technology while negative mood poses

otherwise. 

The actual use of the system is directly influenced by the perceived ease of use and the

perceived usefulness of the system. For example, when a system is easy to use, the task

performance is simulated directly encouraging users to use it. The system should thus be

designed in a manner that users perceive it as potentially useful backed up with ease to use the

feature. Several factors influence the ease of use of a system including intentions, system

interface, content design, and technical support. 

Technology advancement has become one of the tools for enhancing education in a great and

compelling manner. Effective use of technology, precisely the IS can result in delivering superior

learning (Neppo, 2017). This though cannot be achievable without technology acceptance and

adoption. Emphasis should thus be exerted on the factors revolving around what motivates

learners, educators, and education stakeholders in regards to the new education technologies.

Those factors should then be revised and incorporated in the design in the features of the
TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE MODEL IN EDUCATION SETTINGS

technology. The relationship between acceptance and contextual contingencies should as well be

drawn. Basing the fact that there is an escalating demand for educational applications of IT and

changing working practices, system designers and developers need to revisit user acceptance

issues inherent within the contexts of technology being implemented. A good example will be

how teachers oversee how and what technology will be used in the teaching and learning

process. More efforts should be enacted thus on the technology that will result in effective lesson

delivery and content assessment. TAM has found its use in education settings in investigating

student acceptance to online courses, students-teachers perception on computer technology and

its ease of use, e-learning studies in undergraduate courses, gender differences in preservice

teachers, how students communicate while handling a class project, assessing course website as

being effective learning tools among others (Abdullah and Ward, 2016; Teo and Zhou, 2017)). 

It’s beyond doubt that technology and in precise IS has found its value and usefulness in

the educational arena. Technology motivations in education settings have been compatible with

computer usage with the task students and teachers perform, technology is viewed as a means of

enhancing student’s prospects within the society, and recognizing the urge for students to learn

IS to facilitate learning within the classes. The external factors motivating IS usage being the

innumerable opportunities presented on learning IS such as marketability and higher job

opportunities. Technology tools such as the internet are one of the most useful, accessible, and

inexpensive tools that have been exploited in education settings for learning and teaching (Gul et

al., 2017). The usefulness, cheapness, and accessibility elements make the internet to be easily

accepted and adopted for teaching and learning purposes. This is evidenced by the extensive

usage of the internet and Word systems in supporting teachers and learners in their field

experience. 
TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE MODEL IN EDUCATION SETTINGS

To induce the element of ease of use of IS in education settings, both the teachers and

learners ought to be trained on how to use the IS such as on the different software, the different

ways of using the IS, and possibilities present on learning IS (Teo and Zhou, 2017). To

successfully integrate technology into classroom equipment resources and personal support from

administration is a prerequisite. Good support from the administration not only presents students

with an opportunity of enhancing their learning opportunities but as well as encourages teachers

with integrating IS in their classrooms. Teachers should seek training on how well they should

integrate technology into their pedagogical practices to effectively facilitate the teaching and

learning process (Teo and Zhou, 2017). Integrating IS into the learning arena faces several

constraints such as limited training, lack of technological-related support, limited training time,

and poor access to current hardware. Behavioral intentions affecting the use of IS in education

settings being resource support, training, and self-efficacy, and perceived usefulness of IS in

teachers.  

Educational technologies are developing at a great pace making administrators in the

education jargon oblige to more serious roles which are meant to keep them on toes with the

drastically evolving technology. Being up-to-date with this technology will also aid the

educational stakeholders in their educational management of the virtual environment (Kor et al.,

2016). The case study of Çorum City was conducted to show the technologic leadership attitudes

of educational administrators. Technology leadership behavior does not differ due to educational

status, seniority in working as a headmaster, region of working, time passed after graduation,

professional seniority but was highly affected by the pieces of training the leaders received.

Those headmasters that received pieces of training in educational technologies and users feel

more competent and better leadership behaviors than those who did not receive the pieces of
TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE MODEL IN EDUCATION SETTINGS

training (Kor et al., 2016). More so, those leaders that had education technology training have a

higher technology leadership competency as opposed to those who lacked the training. While

assessing education administrator’s technology leadership, four components are focused on, i.e.

level of technology leadership adopted by the administrators, level of school administrators’

awareness, relationships between the administrators’ technology leadership strategies and

school’s administration effectiveness, and whether school administrations’ effectiveness is

predictable using administrators’ technology leadership skills (Kor et al., 2016. 

The findings of the study indicated that technology leadership competency score of those

leaders in pre-schools was lower than those of other school types, professional experiences of

administrators positively affects their technology competencies, those administrators

knowledgeable with IT and IT training shows a better technological competency, technology

competency is directly proportionate with the year of seniority and age implying that young

administrators and senior administrators should gather in different activities to share technology

competency knowledge in their schools (Kor et al., 2016). 

In professional development, perfection can be defined using contemporary technology

as well as digital tools which the education administrator creates with the objective of enabling

professional development in teachers whom will directly develop learner’s learning.

Administrators have a positive effect on their technological competencies. In-service technology

that is given to school administrators aids the in possessing better technological leadership and

competency as compared to those with no training (Kor et al., 2016). There is a significant

difference between the period in which a given headmaster was in office and the visionary

leadership, perfection depicted in the professional development, and the systematic development

components.
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TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE MODEL IN EDUCATION SETTINGS

Reference

Abdullah, F., & Ward, R. (2016). Developing a General Extended Technology Acceptance

Model for E-Learning (GETAMEL) by analysing commonly used external factors.

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Dixit, R. V., & Prakash, G. (2018). Intentions to use social networking sites (SNS) using

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Dwivedi, Y. K., Rana, N. P., Jeyaraj, A., Clement, M., & Williams, M. D. (2019). Re-examining

the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT): Towards a revised

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Gul, S., Asif, M., Ahmad, S., Yasir, M., Majid, M., Malik, M., & Arshad, S. (2017). A survey on

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TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE MODEL IN EDUCATION SETTINGS

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