Predicting continued use of online teacher professional development and the influence of social presence and sociability

Abstract

AbstractThis study examined how a well‐established Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) could predict teachers' intentions to continue using e‐learning for professional development based on perceived ease of use and usefulness. Although studies have shown social interactions are important to teachers, no study has analyzed the mediating influence of social presence and sociability within e‐learning professional development. Therefore, the original TAM was expanded to encompass user perceptions of social presence and sociability. Structural equation modeling was used to measure the mediating affects on their intention to continue using e‐learning for their professional development. The results indicate that the expanded hypothesized model was a good predictor of continuance intention. Perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and social presence were found to be significant determinants of teachers' intent to continue using e‐learning to meet their future professional development needs. The results have implications for educational leaders, designers and facilitators who want to promote teacher online professional development and embed e‐learning conditions that will be readily embraced by classroom teachers.