The process of integrating technology into education often overlooks that technology is a sign. It is not a neutral message conveyor, but rather a material artefact placed into a context inevitably subject to culture. In order to explore this further, Technology Acceptance in Education brings together two academic domains which diverge in many ways: cultural studies, and technology acceptance studies. These domains have not previously been pursued together, which makes this study original and novel in both its theoretical, as well as practical, combination.
Using empirical data gathered amongst teachers based in England, Stockman demonstrates that, regardless of their technological ability and attitudes towards innovative pedagogy, teachers also activate a meaning-making process through encoding and decoding signs around technology as an artefact of culture. In that sense, their acceptance behaviour and decisions rely on the dynamics of the cultural whole to which they belong. Therefore, in this study, technology acceptance is revisited as an issue of cultural negotiation and the conclusions it provides are vitally important to the theoretical and practical advancement of technology acceptance studies, as well as helping to successfully integrate technology into education.
Providing original empirical evidence for the pervasiveness of culture on educational decision-making, the book raises awareness for the importance of cultural research in areas where it has been under-considered. As a result, this book will be of great interest to researchers, academics and postgraduate students engaged in the study of technology acceptance and technology use in education, as well as those interested in cultural studies.
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