ROBOTS IN EDUCATION: A JORDANIAN UNIVERSITY CASE STUDY

Abstract

This paper adopts a technology acceptance model used for studying Robot’s acceptance and focuses on the acceptance of robotic technologies. Despite a wide range of studies on the acceptance and usage of robotics technologies in different fields, there is lacuna of empirical evidence on the acceptance of robotics technologies in the educational context. We contribute to the scholarship on robotics technologies in an educational context, by using qualitative semi-structured interviews, and proposing a research model to empirically explore the main factors affecting the acceptance of robotics technologies, and particularly among university students. We contribute to practice by offering insights on users' expectations and intentions toward the potential use of robot services to both robot developers, and educational institutions alike. The results revealed a potential impact of effort expectancy, performance expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions on the intention behavior towards using robots as academic advisors. Additionally, an emergent dimension (i.e. emotions) was found to have an influence on the behavioral intentions, via its proposed impact on performance and effort expectancies. Overall, social characteristics of robots ought to be considered when investigating their acceptance, specifically when used as social entities in a human environment.