Predicting secondary school teachers’ acceptance and use of a digital learning environment: A cross-sectional study

In this study, secondary school teachers’ acceptance of a digital learning environment (DLE) was investigated. Questionnaires were taken on three times (T1/T2/T3) during the same school year, with the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) as theoretical framework. Next to questionnaires, user-logs were collected during the entire school year. A total of 72 teachers completed a questionnaire on at least one occasion: 64 teachers responded at T1, 41 at T2, and 55 at T3. We first investigated which factors influence teachers’ acceptance of a DLE. The main predictors of DLE acceptance were performance expectancy and social influence by superiors to use the DLE. Effort expectancy and facilitating conditions were of minor importance. We then investigated how well the amount of final observed use could be predicted, and found that at T1 about one third, at T2 about one fourth and at T3 about half of the variance in observed use was predicted by attitude, behavioral intention and self-reported frequency of use. Our study showed that to maximize use of a DLE, its usefulness should be demonstrated, while school boards or principals should strongly encourage teachers to (start to) use the DLE.