Educational Technology
S. Damsaz; K Taghipour; F. Mahmoodi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The development and establishment of instructional technologies in instructional environments is not enough merely due to its benefits, but it must be accepted by users. Acceptance of technology refers to the apparent interest among a group to use information and communication ...
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Background and Objectives: The development and establishment of instructional technologies in instructional environments is not enough merely due to its benefits, but it must be accepted by users. Acceptance of technology refers to the apparent interest among a group to use information and communication technologies in order to perform the tasks that these technologies are designed to support. Acceptance of technology by people who use it is one of the influential factors on its success, results, and positive effects for organizations. If the potential users of the technology resist its use, the desired goals cannot be achieved. One of the new technologies that has emerged in the Iran's education due to the Corona pandemic is SHAD system, which was created in line with electronic instruction for elementary schools. Since teachers have a key role in the effective use of the SHAD system in education and their perceptions and attitudes towards technology influence their effective use in the teaching and learning process, it is necessary to investigate the acceptance of the SHAD system among elementary school teachers. Therefore, the current research was conducted with the aim of investigating the factors affecting on the acceptance of the SHAD system among lementary school teachers in Tabriz.Methods: The research method was correlational-descriptive. The statistical population included all the elementary school teachers in the five districts of Tabriz; based on the Krejcie and Morgan table and using stratified random sampling, a total number of 343 people were included in the sample. Gardner & Amoroso’s technology acceptance questionnaire (2004) was used to collect the required data. To assess the diagnostic reliability of the factor loadings of the questionnaire items, Cronbach’s α, composite reliability (CR), and average variance extracted (AVE) were used. All questionnaire items were acceptable, well defined, and had a range of 0.66 to 0.95. Cronbach’s α for all constructs was above 0.7, indicating a very high reliability of the instrument and its sub-components. To assess the CR of each construct, the Dillon-Goldstein coefficient (ρc) was used. Since PLS uses the factor scores of the subjects for analysis unlike ordinary regression, it was necessary to consider the factor loadings of each item in calculating the validity index. Therefore, the acceptable values of ρc should be 0.7 or higher. To assess convergent validity, the AVE was used and the results showed that the construct of interest accounted for about 50 percent or more of the variance of its indicators. To assess the discriminant validity of the constructs, Fornell and Larcker (1981) suggest that the square root of the AVE of a construct should be greater than its correlation with other constructs. This indicated that the construct h a higher correlation with its own indicators than with other constructs. The results obtained showed that the indicators were valid for the constructs. All constructs showed adequate convergent validity, with AVE values above 0.5. All constructs showed satisfactory reliability, with CR and CA values above 0.7. "Structural Equation Modeling" was used to analyze the data.Findings: The results showed that the variables of perceived usefulness, attitude towards use, and voluntary use, unlike the variables of perceived ease of use and perceived complexity, had a significant relationship with the behavioral intention to use the SHAD system (acceptance of the SHAD system) and 69% of the variance of the behavioral intention to use the SHAD system was explained through these variables.Conclusion: In order to increase the acceptance rate of the SHAD system among elementary school teachers, it is recommended that teachers be taught how to use the SHAD system correctly and appropriately by instructional technology experts so that they are convinced to use and accept this system. The user interface of the system should be prepared in such a way that even teachers with the the least knowledge of technology can easily use it. A 24-hour support by experienced experts in the field of using the SHAD system should be provided for teachers so that they can use their guidance when facing problems
e-learning
K. Taghipour; F. Mahmoodi; M. abbasi; M. Mohammadi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Digital Divide refers to inequality in information and communication technology (ICT) which refers to inequality between the people who have access to digital technology and information and those who have very limited access or no access at all. Considering the fact that the ...
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Background and Objectives: Digital Divide refers to inequality in information and communication technology (ICT) which refers to inequality between the people who have access to digital technology and information and those who have very limited access or no access at all. Considering the fact that the Iranian education has entered the field of providing instruction in Corona pandemic conditions without having the necessary preparations and planning, examining the digital divide and knowing how to implement the instruction in these circumstances can improve the quality of instruction in schools. Accordingly, the current study was conducted with the intention of evaluating the amount of digital divide in the second secondary school education of Tabriz city in the condition of COVID-19 pandemic and identify the factors affecting it.Methods: The descriptive survey research was used. The study population included all teachers and students of second secondary school education of Tabriz city in the second semester of the academic year of 2019- 2020 who were randomly selected using cluster-random sampling method in three schools from each of the five educational districts and the 12th grade class from each school. The data were collected using the questionnaires of Hosseini et al. (2013), Gregg (2016), Zarei Zavaraki and Salemian (2015). The validity of the questionnaires was confirmed by experts in this field. The reliability of the questionnaires was calculated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient for Hosseini et al. (2013), Grieg (2016), and Zarei Zavaraki and Salemian (2015) questionnaires which were calculated to be 0.796, 0.86, and 0.92, respectively. Multivariate Analysis of Variance, independent T-Test and Friedman Test were used to analyze the data.Findings: The results showed that there is digital divide between the teachers of the five educational districts of Tabriz city only in the amount of access to ICT and the amount of the usage of computers during the day. However, there is a significant difference between students in five educational districts of Tabriz city in most dimensions of digital divide, access to ICT, the usage of computers during the day and the year, and the level of their skills in using ICT. Teachers, as compared to students, have more access to ICT in most educational districts of Tabriz, but students' attitudes, skills, and their usage of ICT is better than those of the teachers in most districts of Tabriz city. According to the results related to the effective factors on the digital divide from the perspective of the teachers, the shortage of technical, financial, and economic equipment, cultural, motivational- educational weakness, and the shortage of management and planning infrastructures have been identified as the most important and effective factors on creating the digital divide in second secondary school of Tabriz City.Conclusion: According to the findings, the digital divide is evident in the second secondary school education of Tabriz city. It is essential that the Ministry of Education, in addition to equipping schools, sets up ICT centers in the disadvantaged areas for better access of teachers and students to ICT, as well as providing ICT-related skills training courses.
