Explaining the intention to use technology among student teachers: An application of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)

Abstract

Purpose: This paper aims to examine pre‐service teachers' self‐reported intention to use technology by employing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as the research framework. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 157 student teachers completed a survey questionnaire measuring their responses to four constructs in the TPB. These were administered at the beginning of the course in which technology was taught and used. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used as the technique for data analysis. Findings: The results of this study showed that attitude toward usage and subjective norms were significant predictors of behavioral intention to use technology while perceived behavioral control was not. Overall, this study found that the three explanatory variables in the TPB explained about 40 percent of the variance in behavioral intention to use technology. Originality/value: This study contributes to the growing interests among researchers in using models to explain users' intention to use technology. While prior research have use the theory of planned in explaining variables of interest in psychology, this study attempts to test the explanatory ability of the TPB on the intention to use technology in an educational setting. By doing so, the paper hopes to obtain greater insights into the applicability of TPB to explain issues of educational interests.