Modelling teachers’ acceptance of children's internet use: A risk-focused inquiry

Abstract

In this two-phase study, teachers’ acceptance of children's internet use was investigated by surveying 298 preservice and 302 in-service teachers. Thirty-three indicators were retrieved from the literature to measure perceived acceptance, perceived benefits, perceived availability of risks, prevalence of online risks, trust in technology companies, and trust in government agencies. The measurement model was confirmed in both studies without any modifications. In both studies, the trust in technological companies and the trust in government agencies did not predict the perceived acceptance. In the first study, perceived availability of online risks predicted the acceptance through the full mediation of perceived online risks. The acceptance was also explained by perceived benefits. In the second study, the same structure was meaningful; however, the perceived risk was predicted by perceived benefits as well. Perceived benefits, acceptance and trust in technological companies were stronger among preservice teachers; whereas online risk perceptions were stronger among in-service teachers probably due to age-related risk perception differences