| The evolution and use of digital pedagogical tools are steadily replacing traditional teaching tools such as hardbound textbooks and the 'chalk and talk' course material delivery; therefore, college faculty must become progressively receptive to utilizing these new pedagogical technologies. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) served as the theoretical framework for the study. The purpose of this non-experimental quantitative correlation study was to explore college faculty e-textbook adoption (ETA) as supported by the TAM constructs perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEU) of technologies associated with course material cost savings (CoS) within higher education. The problem was that despite increased use of ebooks in higher education, and potential textbook cost savings for students and faculty and interactive learning experience advantages, there has remained a resistance to ETA by higher education faculty. In a study of the four campuses of the Associated Colleges of the St. Lawrence Valley in northern New York State an online adapted TAM survey was distributed to 163 faculty in the fall 2015 semester; multiple regression analysis confirmed that PEU and PU were significant predictors of ETA (p<.05). One significant regression model noted collectively PU, PEU, and CoS explained 65.5% of the variance of ETA (p<.05). The implications of results noted: (a) PEU and PU were successfully replicated for higher education faculty ETA, (b) PEU and PU were significant predictors of ETA aligned with the TAM, (c) together the variables PU, PEU, and CoS predicted a majority for the criterion variable ETA, and (d) the TAM maintained to be a relevant model to predict future intention of faculty ETA. Recommendations for practice should allow for easier to use e-textbooks, usefulness of e-textbooks as a viable option should be supported, and continuing education curriculum and new faculty orientation should incorporate e-textbook practices. Recommendations for future research included tests of PEU and PU as predictor variables for ETA in quantitative correlational studies with expanded samples to include universities beyond the Associated Colleges, and to conduct a quasi-experimental study to assess other factors that may affect ETA as reported in past research. |
