Document Type : Original Research Paper
Authors
Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Educational Sciences & Psychology, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
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 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
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© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)
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