Technology Acceptance When Teaching Climate Change

Abstract

AbstractClimate change is a pressing global challenge for humanity, which should be adequately represented in the educational system. However, teachers face a significant challenge due to the vast amount of data and information about climate change available in the media. We aimed to identify aspects that affect teachers’ acceptance of technology in general and how technology may help/hinder their teaching of climate change, in particular. Thirty-five chemistry teachers and chemistry educators were exposed to a novel curriculum about climate change that was developed on a digital platform. This paper described the promoting and inhibiting factors regarding adopting technological tools to teach about electric cars within this curriculum. We applied the lenses of the technology acceptance model (TAM) framework to analyze teachers’ responses. Most of the hindering factors concerned the general disadvantages of integrating technology into teaching (e.g., technical malfunctions); therefore, these aspects should be primary addressed to encourage adopting and applying educational technology. However, factors that are specific to teaching climate change in relation to TAM emerged as well. These factors included the critical consumption of digital data, the need to constantly change one’s teaching practices based on the changing data, as well as the social impact of such a tool on the students’ environment. We wish to stress that the TAM can be applied as a framework to identify teachers’ filters and amplifiers that might promote or inhibit transforming theoretical knowledge into practice.