Abstract
Abstract : Technological tools and online platforms seems to be developing swiftly in the 21st century. For example, online applications are being created, developed and designed. Furthermore, learning technologies, new and emerging are repeatedly disconnecting and disrupting the teaching and learning discourse. As such, students’ acceptance and use of technologies introduced in the academic learning ecosystems is of great importance as this helps to determine their successful use. Through the utilisation of Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2) this research seeks to identify factors influencing first year preservice teachers’ acceptance and use of the VIA application (VIA app) as a synchronous collaborative online application. An online questionnaire was employed to gather data from the XZ Institute for Higher Education (XZ) preservice teachers in this research. The questionnaire tested six of the UTAUT2 constructs to determine acceptance using a 5-point Likert scale. The constructs performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation and habit were used. Price value as a construct was excluded partly because technological devices such as laptops or tablets are the facilitating means to the solution of acceptance of the VIA app, and free Wi-Fi coverage is available at all of the campuses. Data was processed through the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 25). Furthermore, the justification for the use of Mann Whitney U test and Kruskal–Wallis H test was explored in this study. Factors that influence the acceptance and use of a VIA app as a synchronous collaborative online application of first year undergraduate pre-service teachers at XZ were explored. Analysis shows that performance expectancy significantly influences the use and acceptance of VIA app. In addition, findings suggest that effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation and habit partially satisfies the influence towards the use of VIA amongst the respondents in this study. For this reason, it can be established that the UTAUT2 is a relevant instrument as far as the conceptualisation and identification of vi factors which influence the use of technological tools such as the VIA app. It also seems reasonable to conclude from the analysis of findings that gender is a significant determinant that contributes to influence the use and acceptance of pre-service teachers towards the synchronous and collaborative VIA app.
M.Ed. (Educational Psychology)