The acceptance of electronic textbooks on tablets by teachers in secondary schools

Abstract

The rapid growth of technology in devices and applications has introduced several ways of doing things in organisations and in education. The introduction and growth of smaller devices provides an advantage in teaching nowadays. These smaller devices are, for example, smartphones and tablets, which promote mobile learning. Tablets together with e-textbooks are gaining momentum in the education systems and are used for teaching and learning. Even some publishers are seeing their growth and have started introducing more e-textbooks. Due to the introduction of these technologies in schools, it is believed that teachers are reluctant to accept and use these technologies in the classroom. Hence, this study to investigate the acceptance of e-textbooks on tablets by teachers in secondary schools in South Africa. The literature review highlights some of the advantages and disadvantages of e-textbooks and tablets in educational settings. The acceptance model used to gather and analyse the data was the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and the research approaches used were interpretative case study and qualitative research methodology. The study involved interviewing 14 secondary school teachers from one private school in Pretoria, South Africa. Of the 14 participants, there were 10 male teachers and 4 female teachers, with various levels of teaching and e-textbooks experience. Thematic content analysis was used, focusing more on deductive content analysis. From these approaches, themes were created to further analyse the interview content into more meaningful perceptions that teachers have regarding using e-textbooks and tablets. One of the research sub-question was answered with findings from the literature only and the other research sub-questions were answered with both literature and interview findings. The main research question was answered with findings from interviews and themes created from interview responses and the findings are presented using the objectives of the research as well as the constructs of the UTAUT model. One of the important factors found was the challenge that teachers experience when learners are using e-textbook and that is they get distracted during class due to the social media applications that are installed on their tablets, which they use when they are supposed to be studying. The second important factor was the teachers’ need to implement e-textbooks in the classroom as a teaching tool. The mandatory use of the e-textbooks had a positive influence on behaviour intention. However, at the time of the study, there was a limited choice of e-textbooks available on the platform and teachers complained about them being forced to use certain e-textbooks. The results found from this study can be helpful to schools and teachers who want to implement e-textbooks and tablets for teaching.