Unpacking teachers' acceptance of technology: Tests of measurement invariance and latent mean differences

• Evidence is provided in support of a measure originally developed for pre-service teachers.
• Measurement invariance provided more precise results for group comparisons.
• Tests of latent mean differences provide more precise estimates than t-tests and ANOVA.
• Using advanced quantitative techniques allows for greater interrogation of the data.

This study examines the factors that explain teachers' technology acceptance. A sample of 673 primary and secondary school teachers gave their responses to a 16-item technology acceptance measure for pre-service teachers (TAMPST). Results of this study showed teachers have a generally positive level of technology acceptance and that the TAMPST is a valid tool to be applied to teachers although it was originally developed to test pre-service teachers. Tests for measurement invariance and latent mean differences on the five factors in the TAMPST provided support for full and partial configural, metric, and partial scalar invariance by gender, length of service in teaching, and teaching level. The tests of latent mean differences found significant differences by gender for perceived ease of use, with male teachers rating higher than their female counterparts. Between teachers with shorter and longer years of teaching service, statistical significance was found in the mean differences for perceived ease of use and attitude towards technology use. No significant mean differences in each of the five factors were found between the primary and secondary teachers.