Understanding factors influencing ESL student teachers’ adoption of classroom response systems: an integration of TAM and AOI theory

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study aims to investigate the factors affecting student teachers’ acceptance intention of a gamified classroom response system (CRS) named Bodoudou. Combining the attributes of innovation (AOI) theory with the well-known technology acceptance model (TAM), we raised 19 hypotheses that explain the relationships among eight factors. The proposed model was tested with survey data collected from 240 English-as-a-second-language (ESL) student teachers in China. We first conducted a scale evaluation, which removed eight items measuring a technology’s compatibility and observability, then ran a structural equation modeling (SEM) test to explore the relationships among other factors. Findings revealed that student teachers’ intention to use CRS is mainly determined by the technology’s perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEoU), relative advantages (ADV), complexity (CPL), and trialability (TRI). Moreover, complexity is not a precise antonym to perceived ease of use in the current context, and trialability is not statistically related to perceived ease of use. The underlying reasons need further exploration. Future studies need to validate the scale measuring the five attributes of innovation, as well as the rationale of adding the AOI theory to the TAM model when investigating users’ technology acceptance intention.