Assessing teachers’ acceptance of educational technologies: Beware for the congruency between user acceptance and actual use

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the exte nt to which self -reported measures for user acceptance (attitude, behavioral intention, self -reported frequency of use), added to the prediction of several aspects of use of a portal for education. Data from 835 teachers was collected: questionnaire “accep tance” data on one occasion and five parameters for observed use (number of logins, downloads, uploads, page views, and reactions) were extracted on two occasions from the portal database. We found that the self -reported measures for acceptance primarily p redicted search behavior (monthly number of logins, downloads and page views), and not share behavior (monthly number of uploads and reactions). So, researchers aiming to assess teachers’ acceptance of a technology to contribute information, should adjust their measures for user acceptance so that these correspond with the targeted actual behavior.