The Students’ Perception on Incorporating Google Classroom in Learning Economic Disciplines

Abstract

AbstractIn recent years, educational institutions have shown a growing openness towards the incorporation of new technologies in education, especially through e-learning or learning management systems (LMS). Google Classroom is one of the most used LMS platforms by Romanian educational institutions, schools opting for G-Suite as a support tool for educational purposes especially after the onset of the pandemic, followed by the transition to online learning. This work aims to identify, based on a quantitative survey, the attitude of students from an economical college in Romania towards the use of Google Classroom in economic disciplines. In that regard, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used in this research as the basis for the development of the research model, using constructors from the original model as well as other constructors that have been used in various other researches of TAM versions. This is due to the fact that there are still many factors of influence that have not been clearly specified and are waiting to be investigated to confirm their influence on the attitude towards the use of technology in general, and Google Classroom in particular. The results showed that the two builders Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use positively influence students in their attitude towards the use of Google Classroom. The impact of computer anxiety, facilitating conditions, learning autonomy, self-efficacy, and perceived enjoyment on Perceived Ease of Use was also assessed. This research will help to better understand students’ perceptions of Google Classroom and their acceptance of using the platform.KeywordsGoogle ClassroomTeaching and learning economics disciplinesTAMAttitude towards use Google Classroom