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ABSTRACT

The study examines the factors affecting Greek pre-service teachers’ intention to use computers when they become practicing teachers. Four variables (perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, self-efficacy, and attitude toward use) as well as behavioral intention to use computers were used so as to build a research model that extended the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and structural equation modeling was used for parameter estimation and model testing. Self-reported data were gathered from 487 pre-service teachers studying at the Departments of Primary School Education in Greece. Results revealed a good model fit and of the nine hypotheses formulated, seven were supported. Overall, the TAM, with the addition of computer self-efficacy beliefs, adequately represented the relationships among the factors. It also possesses the explanatory power to predict pre-service teachers’ intention to use computers when they become practicing teachers since a high percentage (68%) of the variance in behavioral intention to use computers was explained, while the most influential factors were perceived usefulness and attitude toward computers. Implications for practice are also discussed.

Keywords: attitudes toward computers, perceived ease of use, pre-srvice teachers, self-efficacy, structural equation modelling, technology acceptance model