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Factors affecting acceptance of User-Centric Technology (UCT) among ITE lecturers in Singapore
Author
Tan, Shalyn
Supervisor
Teo, Timothy
Abstract
Most Institute of Technical Education (ITE) lecturers and educators are still reluctant to adopt the use of technology for instructional purpose despite the presence of technology in the classroom. While availability of technology offers opportunities for technology acceptance, most common barriers to teacher acceptance of technology among others quoted by technology acceptance studies are time, availability of technical support and training. There has been much research into the factors that would encourage lecturers‘ technology acceptance. While technology acceptance can be encouraged, eventual acceptance of technology by lecturers depends on their intrinsic motivation and intention to use technologies. Lecturers‘ attitude towards technology forms a consistent predictor of technology acceptance. The need to encourage the use of technology in classrooms is made prominent nowadays as lecturers face increase population of Generation Y learners; learners who have grown up with computers. Lecturers are encouraged to use technology for a student-focused, customized, collaborative learning experience for the Generation Y learners. This study surveyed 285 ITE lecturers on the factors that influence their use of User-Centric Technology (UCT); instructional technology used in ITE. UCT is defined as ubiquitous technologies that are an extension of information and communication technology, beyond static downloads of information. This study also investigates if there are any significant differences in demographics in the use of UCT. The results indicate that four factors, namely; technology relevance, attitude towards technology use, technological usefulness and technological ease of use influence lecturers‘ actual UCT use. ITE lecturers tend to evaluate the relevance to which the functions of UCT match their objective of use before deciding to use them. The higher the relevance, the higher the chances lecturers will use UCT. Lecturers also viewed the usefulness of UCT, the degree to which using UCT will help them to perform their job better, as one of the influencing factors. Another factor that creates positive attitude towards using UCT would be the effort needed in using the technology. Lecturers agree that they will likely use UCT if it requires minimal effort. The results also indicate that contrary to some studies, the demographics of ITE lecturers show no significant differences in the use of UCT by age, gender, academic qualification, and years of teaching service in ITE. Generally, the use of UCT as an instructional technology for teaching and learning in ITE is still in its infancy and more can be done to explain the concept of UCT to facilitate acceptance and actual use in the classroom for instructional purposes.
Date Issued
2011
Call Number
LB1028.3 Tan
Date Submitted
2011