A longitudinal study to understand students’ acceptance of technological reform. When experiences exceed expectations

Abstract

This study investigates technology acceptance over time of two specific technologies in a university setting, namely interactive quizzes and screen sharing. This topic is investigated in the framework of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) that includes the perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and behavioural intention as main concepts. This study also add experience or actual use to this framework. Although previous research investigated the relation between technology acceptance and actual use, no longitudinal study of TAM variables has been previously conducted in the context of interactive quizzes and screen sharing from a student perspective. This study aims to meet this research gap and investigated students’ expectations towards educational technology at the start of the project and students’ experiences with educational technology throughout the academic year. Results reveal that students started out with a positive predisposition to the usefulness, ease of use, and behavioural intention of using educational technology in university settings. The TAM perceptions after experiencing the technology were significantly higher than before using the technology. This was the case for both interactive quizzes and screen sharing technology. The longitudinal results even counter a novelty effect. Although educational reform is also related to organizational processes, students’ acceptance is critical to make sure that technologies might contribute to improve learning and teaching.