Factors affecting the Acceptance of Information and Communication Technology by Agricultural Educators

Currently, ICT has a tremendous impact on the efficiency of the educational system, and its usage is aimed at continuously training users in educational programs. The continuity of this education depends on the teachers' willingness to continue using ICT. Therefore, the present research was conducted with the aim of investigating the factors that affect the utilization of ICT by educators in the winter of2022. To achieve this objective, the GETAMEL model was utilized to explain the factors that predict Jihad Agricultural Organization teachers' behavior. Within this model, the constructs of enjoyment, subjective norms, self-efficacy, and anxiety are external factors that influence the constructs of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of the TAM theory. The statistical population of this research was the experts of agricultural jihad of Fars province who were the instructors of training courses and were selected using the multi-stage random cluster sampling method. The data collection tool was a questionnaire which content validity was confirmed by a panel of experts and its reliability was confirmed by the Ordinal theta coefficient (θ˃0.8). The data were analyzed using frequency, mean, SEM and, SPSS24 and, Smart-PLS3 software. The GETAMEL model successfully predicted 64% of the variance of ICT usage behavior. Additionally, the results indicated that perceived usefulness had a direct effect on self-efficacy, enjoyment, and subjective norms. Moreover, perceived ease of use directly influences subjective norms and inversely affects anxiety. The results of this research can be valuable in formulating policies to sustain educator's motivation to use ICT within agricultural education.