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The behavioral intentions of Hong Kong primary teachers in adopting educational technology

  • Cultural and Regional Perspectives
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Abstract

The use of educational technology by Hong Kong primary school teachers has been realized by the government’s long-term support to the technology infrastructure, professional training, technical support, and development of teaching resources in local primary schools. However, the high adoption rate may not reflect the willingness of teachers to accept technology for educational purposes. Presently, there is no existing research investigating in-service primary teachers’ technology acceptance in Hong Kong. The aim of this study is to investigate teachers’ acceptance of technology and the influencing factors behind their acceptance. This study takes a quantitative approach to investigate 185 primary teachers in Hong Kong using Structural Equation Modeling on a customized Technology Acceptance Model. The results suggest that contrary to common belief, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of the technology have little influence on behavioral intention of use in our research context. Rather, a pragmatic consideration of facilitating conditions is found to be a strong dominating factor. A context-specific interpretation of the results is provided. Implications on school policy are also discussed to provide insights for the development of educational technology.

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Acknowledgments

This project was funded by the Internal Research Grant (Ref: 81/2012-2013R) from the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Thanks also go to the participating schools and research assistants, especially Mr. Cheung Ho-yin, in this research project for their dedication.

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  1. Department of Mathematics and Information Technology, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, 10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, NT, Hong Kong, China

    Gary K. W. Wong

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Wong, G.K.W. The behavioral intentions of Hong Kong primary teachers in adopting educational technology. Education Tech Research Dev 64, 313–338 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-016-9426-9

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