A study of Chinese technical and vocational college teachers' adoption and gratification in new technologies
Authors: Bin Enlin , Islam A. Y. M. Atiquil , Gu Xiaoqing , Spector Jonathan Michael , Wang FaLiang 
Published: February 2020

The problem motivating this research is the rapid introduction of educational technologies and the strong push to use new technologies in technical and vocational training in China coupled with varied responses and uneven adoption of new tools on the part of practitioners. This study investigated the factors that influence technical and vocational college teachers' adoption and appreciation of information and communication technology (ICT) in China using the technology adoption and gratification (TAG) model. At total of 535 teachers from public technical and vocational colleges were surveyed using a purposive sampling procedure. The survey data were analyzed through structural equation modeling. Findings suggest that the use of ICT had three primary determinants: teaching purpose, research purpose and academic purpose. Technical and vocational college teachers' technology adoption and gratification was directly and indirectly predicted by their computer self‐efficacy, intention to use, perceived ease of use and usefulness of ICT. Most importantly, the TAG model accounted for 77% of the variance in teachers' gratification using those predictive variables. This research successfully applied the TAG model and it further fosters recommendations for future investigations. This study contributes to theoretical, methodical and practical understandings of the use of ICT in technical and vocational education, which has been much less explored than in K‐12 education and university settings.

Practitioner Notes

What is already known about this topic

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) helps explain teacher acceptance.

Investigations have revealed that many gaps exist in identifying ICT facilities, access, skills and usage in technical and vocational education.

Studies have suggested that ICT development requires significant training on the part of teachers and creates new demands for students.

What this article adds

This research exhibited that vocational and technical college teachers’ use of ICT had three primary determinants: teaching purpose, research purpose and academic purpose.

Chinese technical and vocational college teachers’ adoption and gratification in new technologies were directly and indirectly predicted by their computer self‐efficacy, intention to use, perceived ease of use and usefulness of ICT.

The findings of this study recommend that the quality of teaching, learning and research in vocational and technical education could be enhanced through the application of emerging ICT.

Implications for practice and/or policy

The larger goal is to use the results as a basis for future studies in the relatively unexplored area of ICT use and adoption in teaching and training in developing countries.

By conducting cross‐cultural studies, researchers could be able to comprehend the overall scenarios of ICT in vocational and technical education as proposed.

This study contributes to theoretical, methodical and practical understandings of the use of ICT in technical and vocational education, which has been much less explored than in K‐12 education and university settings.

Teachers' skills to use ICT should be enhanced through ongoing training programs offered by the authorities of technical education.