UNIFIED THEORY OF ACCEPTANCE AND USE OF TECHNOLOGY MODEL AS A PREDICTOR OF PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ INTENTION TO TEACH WITH TECHNOLOGY IN SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA

Abstract

Teachers’ intention to teach with technology is fundamental to the integration of technology in the teaching-learning process. Reports have shown that the intention to deploy technologies in teaching among pre-service teachers in southwestern Nigeria is poor. Previous studies have focused more on the availability and utilisation of technology in teaching than on extending Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and Technology Acceptance Model. This study was, therefore, conducted to extend the UTAUT Model comprising Performance Expectancy (PE), Effort Expectancy (EE), Social Influence (SI) and Facilitating Conditions (FC) with Technology Familiarity (TF), Technological Anxiety (TA), Attitude to Technology Use (ATT) and Accessibility to Technological Resources (ACC), with a view to examining pre-service teachers’ intention to teach with technology in southwestern Nigeria. The study was premised on the UTAUT Model, while the explanatory sequential mixed methods design was adopted. In stage one, a preliminary investigation was carried out with 36 students from a College of Education (COE) and 23 from a university to explore other factors that were germane to teachers’ intention to teach with technology than UTAUT variables. The factors were TF, TA, ATT and ACC which were loaded high upon subjection to Factor Analysis. In stage two, a new model was built to examine UTAUT variables with its extension on pre-service teachers’ intention to teach with technology. Six public universities and COEs were randomly selected from southwestern Nigeria. Part-three students in COEs and 400-level undergraduates were purposively selected, having had teaching practice experience and acquired micro - teaching skills. They were 1,333 students and 985 undergraduates. The instruments used were PE (r=0.8), EE (r=0.7), SI (r=0.7), FC (r=0.8), TF (r=0.9), TA (r=0.8), ATT (r=0.8), ACC (r=0.8) and Behavioural Intention (BI) (r=0.7) scales. Focus group discussions (12) were held with pre-service teachers. Quantitative data were subjected to Pearson product moment correlation and Partial least square structural equation modelling at p ≤ 0.05, while qualitative data were content-analysed. Pre-service teachers’ BI was sufficiently predicted by the combination of (PE, β =0.08); (EE, β =0.10); (FC, β =0.11); (TA, β= -0.37); (ATT, β =0.20); and (ACC, β =0.12). The extended UTAUT model jointly accounted for 52.0% of the variance observed in preservice teachers’ BI. The most important construct in the prediction of pre-service teachers’ BI was TA (0.10). There was a significant direct causal effect of ATT (r =0.25); EE (r =0.09); PE (r =0.06); ACC (r=0.14) and FC (r =0.09) on BI, but not on SI and TF. There was a significant negative causal effect of TA (r= -0.29) on BI. The pre-service teachers’ BI was invariant of the tertiary institution type. The model predicted other factors than the original UTAUT model. There were complaints by the pre-service teachers about technological know-how and accessibility to technological tools. The extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and use of Technology model enhanced the prediction of pre-service teachers’ intention to deploy technology in teaching in southwestern Nigeria.