Investigating pre-service teachers’ acceptance of Web 2.0 technologies in their future teaching: a Chinese perspective

ABSTRACT

In recent years, there has been an exponential growth of the explorations around the pedagogical use of Web 2.0 technologies in China. This study offers an alternate perspective by examining predictors of pre-service teachers’ uptake of Web 2.0 technologies for teaching purposes. On the basis of prior related research focusing on the pedagogical use of ICT, an eight-factor research model was hypothesised. Data were collected from two universities in China through a questionnaire (N = 464). Structural equation modelling analysis results suggested that perceived usefulness, perceive enjoyment, subjective norm, technological pedagogical and content knowledge, and facilitating conditions had statistically significant direct effects on intention to use Web 2.0 technologies. The findings can help stakeholders in China (e.g. teacher educators, school leaders, and education policy makers) develop a better understanding of the realities of teachers’ pedagogical use Web 2.0 technologies in China.

KEYWORDS:

• China
• Web 2.0
• pre-service teachers
• technology acceptance
• ICT

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Timothy Teo, Ph.D. is Distinguished Professor of Education at the Faculty of Education, University of Macau. His research interests and published works are in areas of ICT in education, educational psychology, and quantitative methods.

Dr. Guoyuan Sang is an associate professor at the Center for Teacher Education Research, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University. His research interests are in areas of teacher education, and ICT integration.

Bing Mei is a project assistant in the Digital Learning Team and research affiliate of the Quantitative Data Analysis and Research (Quant-DARE) unit, Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Auckland and a lecturer at Henan University. His research interests include computer-assisted language learning, pedagogical use of ICT, and teacher education.

Cathy Ka Weng Hoi is an educational and psychological researcher at Faculty of Education, University of Macau. She has experience in measurement, experimental design, and statistics. She is well versed in R, Mplus, Amos, and others. Her research interests are in the areas of self-efficacy, social desirability, and information literacy.

ORCID

Bing Mei http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9185-7509