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Predicting Special Educators’ Use of Assistive Technology in Virtual & Hybrid Learning Environments

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Abstract

This predictive correlational study investigated to what extent, if at all, the constructs of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) predicted special educators’ use of assistive technology (AT) in virtual and hybrid settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey was distributed to educators (n = 104) across the United States, and a multiple regression was used to determine whether, if at all, the constructs of the UTAUT significantly predicted their use of AT to support online and hybrid learning. The results cohere with and extend previous research regarding teachers’ acceptance and use of technology and demonstrated that special educators’ positive perceptions of social influence and students’ effort expectancy were predictive of their use of AT in online and hybrid settings.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Education, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR, USA

    Jessica Herring Watson

  2. College of Education, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA

    Ayanna Perkins & Amanda J. Rockinson-Szapkiw

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  1. Jessica Herring Watson
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  2. Ayanna Perkins
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  3. Amanda J. Rockinson-Szapkiw
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Jessica Herring Watson and Amanda Rockinson-Szapkiw. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Jessica Herring Watson and Ayanna Perkins. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jessica Herring Watson.

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Ethics Approval

The questionnaire and methodology for this study was approved by the Human Research Ethics committee of University of Memphis.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Competing Interests

All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest or non-financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

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This article is an expanded version of an American Educational Research Association (AERA) poster presentation.

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Table 7 Survey Items
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Herring Watson, J., Perkins, A. & Rockinson-Szapkiw, A.J. Predicting Special Educators’ Use of Assistive Technology in Virtual & Hybrid Learning Environments. TechTrends 68, 370–379 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-024-00932-7

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