عوامل موثر بر پذیرش سیستم یادگیری الکترونیکی مبتنی بر وب برای آموزش ضمن خدمت معلمان سوم دبیرستان در تایوان

Web-based e-learning is not restricted by time or place and can provide teachers with a learning environment that is flexible and convenient, enabling them to efficiently learn, quickly develop their professional expertise, and advance professionally. Many research reports on web-based e-learning have neglected the role of the teacher's perspective in the acceptance of using web-based e-learning systems for in-service education. We distributed questionnaires to 402 junior high school teachers in central Taiwan. This study used the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as our theoretical foundation and employed the Structure Equation Model (SEM) to examine factors that influenced intentions to use in-service training conducted through web-based e-learning. The results showed that motivation to use and Internet self-efficacy were significantly positively associated with behavioral intentions regarding the use of web-based e-learning for in-service training through the factors of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. The factor of computer anxiety had a significantly negative effect on behavioral intentions toward web-based e-learning in-service training through the factor of perceived ease of use. Perceived usefulness and motivation to use were the primary reasons for the acceptance by junior high school teachers of web-based e-learning systems for in-service training.

Advances in information technology have promoted web-based e-learning and accelerated knowledge delivery through the Internet. The web-based e-learning environment is so convenient that online and lifelong learning have gradually become a trend in education (Chen & Shi, 2002). In today's rapidly changing information society characterized by the current web-based e-learning environment, the traditional face-to-face learning style is no longer sufficient (Hamalainen, Whinston, & Vishik, 1996). Indeed, the exclusive use of traditional face-to-face learning methods does not effectively provide learners with instant feedback, which is increasingly expected in a society in which rapid communication has become the norm. The real-time nature other features of web-based e-learning render it an efficient way to acquire new information gain knowledge (Edwards, 1996). Apart from offering abundant learning resources, web-based e-learning can also enable learners to create knowledge by themselves and to provide individual learning paths and strategies (Eastmond, 1997). Web-based e-learning systems can incite interest in learning according to individual pedagogical demands and needs. Compared with rigid, traditional textbooks, the teaching material offered by web-based e-learning offer learners a variety of content and the experience of self-directed learning (Tang, 2008). Technology has changed lives and has also substantially increased the pace of life; learning, however, cannot wait. Everyone hopes that he/she will be able to acquire knowledge in the shortest period of time. Traditional instruction restricts a learner's time and space and indeed robs learning of the convenience of choosing the time to learn, which can even cause learners to lose the motivation to learn (Chen and Huang, 2010, Hung, 2007 and Rovai et al., 2007). Web-based e-learning has been promoted in government institutions to improve national digital competitiveness, a practice that also serves as an excellent example of lifelong learning. Additionally, some enterprises have successively introduced web-based e-learning as a platform for the education and training of employees, thus creating a shared learning environment for these enterprises and strengthening the professionalism and information-related competencies of employees (Sridhar, 2005). Although many important studies have focused on web-based e-learning, none has analyzed web-based e-learning systems from the perspective of teachers (Chen and Huang, 2011, Huang et al., 2008, Hwang et al., in press, Lee et al., 2003 and Rovai et al., 2007). Web-based e-learning without the limitations of time or space provides teachers with a flexible and convenient learning environment. It also enables teachers to learn efficiently and to easily acquire professional education, an approach unparalleled by traditional teaching methods. On the basis of a review of the previous literature, we analyzed the factors that affected the participation of teachers in web-based e-learning in the context of in-service education. We also identified factors that significantly influenced the participation of junior high school teachers in web-based e-learning and confirmed the applicability of the TAM to this domain. TAM introduced the two new perspectives on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use that can explain and predict factors that influence use of and attitudes toward new technology (Davis, Bagozzi, & Warsaw, 1989). This model has been applied in a wide range of research fields (Chen and Huang, 2010, Heijden, 2003 and Lee et al., 2003). This study had the following objectives: (1) to analyze the factors that affected the intentions of junior high school teachers’ toward the use of web-based e-learning for in-service education. (2) To identify the most significant factors affecting the participation of junior high school teachers in web-based e-learning in the context of in-service education.

This study used the revised TAM as its theoretical basis and employed the structural equation model to analyze factors that affected teachers’ intentions toward using web-based e-learning systems for in-service education. Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use emerged as intervening variables that mediated the impact of external variables (motivation to use, computer anxiety, and Internet self-efficacy) on intentions to use web-based e-learning system for in-service education. This study found that latent variable affected the impact of behavioral intentions related to web-based e-learning systems in the following order: perceived usefulness > perceived ease of use > motivation to use. That is, junior high school teachers who perceived web-based e-learning systems as useful had stronger intentions to use such systems. Consistent with a previous report (Davis et al., 1989), our results identified perceived usefulness as the primary factor influencing behavioral intentions and perceived ease of use as the second most influential factor in this regard. Several studies have noted that teachers use the Internet or online communities primarily to obtain information (Huang, 2006 and Wang, 2006). Thus, if web-based e-learning systems can provide information that is useful to teachers, this would be expected to strengthen the intentions of teachers to use these systems. According to the results of this study, perceived usefulness was affected primarily by motivation to use and, secondarily, by Internet self-efficacy. This study is the first to use teachers’ perspectives to explore factors that influence attitudes toward in-service education presented via web-based e-learning systems. The results can serve as the basis for the development of web-based e-learning systems that offer e-learning functions more acceptable to teachers and that promote innovative information technology platforms that create channels to allow current teachers to engage in in-service education. When teachers have a flexible and convenient learning environment, they can learn efficiently and rapidly expand their professional expertise. In other words, Taiwanese junior high school teachers can use training times arranged by schools to carry out web-based e-learning system for in-service training at any time and place. Based on the results of SEM analysis, the three following principles are recommended for the Ministry of Education of Taiwan when arranging additional practical training for junior high school teachers, in order to satisfy the learning and development of the professional knowledge of current teachers and to effectively increase instructional quality. (1) Using web-based e-learning for practical training can provide current junior high school teachers with a learning environment that is flexible and convenient; (2) the content of the learning curriculum can provide current junior high school teachers with expansion of interactive instructional materials; (3) the curricular content of practical training can be downloaded at any time and place, providing current junior high school teachers with more diverse instructional strategies.