Revisiting the technology acceptance model: the influence of colonial mentality on technology acceptance

Abstract

The introduction of technology into the South African education sector has been met with optimism, as it can enhance education. The success in adoption of technology is not dependent only on access and skills, but technology acceptance is just as essential. Various models of technology acceptance have been proposed over the last two decades by various technologists such as Chuan-Hoo Tan, Richard Bagozzi and Youjae Yi, of which the technology acceptance model (TAM) is central. TAM focuses on the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of technology. In South Africa, adopting the TAM to understand the acceptance of technology by teachers is doubtful, since most digital content is in English, while the majority of the population speaks an African language. In 2017, the Teacher Assessment Resources for Monitoring and Improving Instruction (TARMII) software was introduced to South African primary school teachers that allowed them to choose between an English and Setswana interface. A purposive sample of seven Setswana-speaking teachers who could also speak English was chosen from the Madibeng District in the North West province. The findings showed that the participants were pleased to use the Setswana software but opted for English. This reasoning had less to do with technology, but more with the perception of English. Hence, a modification of the technology acceptance model was required to understand and explain these findings.