Modelling primary school teachers’ acceptance of distance-based educational technologies: A post-pandemic perspective

Abstract

AbstractDistance-based technologies have been one of the foci of technology-related studies since the pandemic first appeared, but there is still a need for further research to gain a greater understanding of how teachers are using these technologies in the post-pandemic era. Thus, the aim of this study is to determine whether the level of digital competence (DC) and techno-pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) influence the acceptance, by primary school teachers, of distance-based technologies in their post-pandemic teaching. To achieve this, we integrated two external variables, DC and TPACK, into the predictors of the technology acceptance model (TAM), and introduced an extended version of the TAM. The statistics were collected through an online survey of 459 primary school teachers working in various regions of Türkiye. The analysis employed structural equation modelling. The findings suggest that there are statistically significant direct effects of digital competence and perceived usefulness on primary school teachers’ intentions to use distance-based technologies. The extended model explains the connection among the variables, and the findings offer important insights for collaborators in education to better empower teachers to integrate technology favourably and to maintain distance-based technology use in the future.