Abstract
Online distance education was a necessity during the COVID-19 pandemic as schools closed to stop the exponential spread of the pandemic. Online distance education is only possible through the use of various online learning technologies. The question is raised: “Were these technologies accepted by high school learners to learn Physical Sciences during the lockdown?” The adapted Unified Theory of Acceptance and the Use of Technology (UTAUT2) model is applied in this study as a theoretical framework to investigate how various factors influenced the acceptance of technologies. To collect quantitative data, a questionnaire was developed from previous studies using the UTAUT2 model. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) were used to analyse data from 173 participants. The results show that habit has a significant positive influence on behavioural intention towards the acceptance and use of educational technologies. The statistical analysis indicates that habit and hedonic motivation has a significant effect on performance efficiency and effort efficiency of learning technologies. The model indicates that 59.1 % of the variance in behavioural intention is mainly explained by the independent variable habit and 90.5 % of the variance in the learners’ use behaviour of learning technologies. The combination of habit and hedonic motivation can explain 39.7 % of the variance of effort expectancy and 76.7 % of the variance in performance expectancy. Thus the model suggests that habit influenced the acceptance of technology significantly. The acceptance of online technologies can be enhanced by creating online environments that increase hedonic motivation and develop the habit in learners to use technologies for academic purposes.
M.Ed. (Information and Communication Technology in Education)