1. Introduction
Before the emergence of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020, education commonly occurred in physical classrooms. As information and communication technology (ICT) has advanced in recent years, certain technologies, such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, and social bookmarking, have been used in education [
1]. However, not all teachers use technology in teaching, such that only tech-savvy teachers are capable of using them [
2,
3]. Miranda and Russell [
2] stated that teachers who have more experiences with technology view technology as a valuable instructional tool and tend to use it in classrooms.
COVID-19 has raised the bar on education. Virtual classrooms have taken over after school closures to prevent the spread of the virus [
4]. For example, An et al. [
5] examined K-12 teachers in the United States and found that they used various technologies, including online learning platforms and tools (e.g., Seesaw, Schoology, and Quizlet) and online communication and meetings (e.g., Google Meet, MS Teams, and Twitter). In a related study, Slovakian teachers used different pedagogies during remote teaching. In particular, they primarily used EduPage to provide materials and communicate with students [
6]. In Cyprus, secondary school teachers used different educational tools (e.g., WhatsApp, Facebook, and Google Classroom) in distance learning [
7], whereas elementary school teachers in China used various online teaching platforms, including social tools (e.g., QQ and WeChat), communication tools (e.g., Zoom and Xiaoyu), and platform services (e.g., Seewo and Xueleyun) [
8]. However, most teachers still lacked knowledge and skills in using technology, which rendered teaching and learning inefficient. Plenty of online learning technologies were also available. Occasionally, they create difficulties, such as issues with installation, login problems, download errors, and problems with audio and video.
In addition, personal attention is a significant issue in online learning. Students prefer two-way interaction, which can be difficult to implement at times. Online learning often pertains to the theoretical content, presenting students with difficulty practicing and learning effectively [
9]. However, in this ‘new normal’ world scenario, online learning is necessary to continue learning activities. A few examples of new technologies used in online education include learning management systems (LMSs; e.g., Google Classroom and Moodle), interactive presentation tools (e.g., Mentimeter and Canva), and video conferencing tools (e.g., Google Meet and Zoom) [
10,
11]. Thailand also faces these challenges in online education. Consequently, Thailand needs to focus on using technology in education. The next step for online education technology will be a digital learning platform (DLP) [
12], a combination of an interactive digital environment and administrative tools that target students and teachers. The objective of a DLP is to provide specific digital learning and teaching materials and content [
13]. An essential quality of a platform is its adaptability to the needs of students, which leads to improved and faster learning [
14]. A DLP is designed to be open and free to all individuals. Therefore, this recent technology is a new challenge for many countries that need to develop and implement DLPs for effective online teaching and learning.
Thailand has been confronted with the COVID-19 pandemic since mid-March 2020 [
15]. In terms of education, K-12 schools in Thailand typically begin a new academic year in mid-May. However, the opening for physical classes was delayed until 1 July 2020, to prevent the spread of COVID-19 [
16]. At that time, education was conducted online for at least two months to ensure students continued learning during school closures. Thus, teachers had to learn to manage online learning using various technologies, such as Moodle, Zoom, and Google Classroom.
In 2017, the Thai government issued a national reform plan. The education reform section stated that “transform[ing] education through digital transformation has to develop a ‘National Digital Learning Platform’ by leveraging digital technology, bringing knowledge and learning methods to schools, students and teachers across the country, especially in remote areas.” [
17] (p. 223). To achieve this reform, the Ministry of Education (MOE) launched a prototype of a national DLP in 2020 called the Digital Education Excellence Platform (DEEP). Specifically, the DEEP includes online learning tools, such as video meeting links, instructional videos, and assignment links [
18]. However, the DEEP does not meet the definition of a DLP, as the MOE claims. According to users, the DEEP is only a central platform for teachers and students to access Google for Education and Microsoft 365 for Education [
19]. Moreover, it still has certain technical problems, which rendered the DEEP unsuccessful in Thailand due to its lack of flexibility and difficulty in use. It remains similar to the current products, which did not promote its use among many schools. According to the DEEP website, this platform is only employed by 12.95% of users (see
Table 1) [
20]. Hence, many schools have created their own DLPs. However, since a DLP is a new concept in Thailand, few teachers feel comfortable using such technology in teaching.
The Need for the Study
During the COVID-19 pandemic, education was completely conducted through remote learning and digital learning platforms [
21]. In the context of developing countries, including Thailand, DLPs were not well adopted in basic education before the pandemic [
22], with numerous teachers being unfamiliar with online teaching altogether [
23]. Moreover, since a DLP is a new concept in Thailand, there has been little research on how teachers can effectively adopt this platform. Therefore, it is imperative to understand how teachers are willing and ready to adopt a DLP because online teaching should be effective, and students should receive the same quality of education as they do in physical classrooms.
As previously discussed, the technology acceptance model (TAM) will be used to assess teachers’ acceptance of DLPs. Davis [
24] proposed the TAM to explain the behavioral intention of technology users to utilize technology. According to the TAM, attitudes toward technology use, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use are the key determinants of the user acceptance of technology. Several researchers have examined the factors that influence technology acceptance and DLP use [
25,
26]. Along this line of research, the objective of the current study is to examine the acceptance of technology and behavioral intention to use DLPs of teachers in Thailand. Moreover, the findings can be beneficial to educators, policymakers, and school administrators in the country.
5. Discussion
This study aimed to examine the DLP acceptance of K-12 teachers in Thailand and found that nine out of eleven potential relationships were statistically significant (p < 0.01, p < 0.001). This study demonstrates three significant points discussed below.
First, ATT is a crucial predictor of BI. Specifically, the findings demonstrated that ATT directly predicts BI, which is consistent with the results of previous research [
22,
46]. Moreover, PU and PEU were predictors of ATT [
31,
41]. In other words, when teachers perceive that a DLP is useful and easy to use in teaching, they are likely to hold positive attitudes toward DLP use. Moreover, PU and FC had indirect impacts on BI through ATT. These results suggest that although teachers perceive the usefulness of a DLP, they may not necessarily want to use a DLP. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most teachers in Thailand adopted DLPs for the first time after online learning replaced face-to-face teaching and learning. This result can be explained through teachers’ attitudes toward DLP use. Tondeur et al. [
47] found that attitudes toward ICT in education can have a significant influence on educational ICT use. Even if teachers consider DLP useful and schools provide sufficient facilitation, teachers may refrain from DLP use if they lack a favorable attitude toward it. Teachers who are more open to instructional technology are more likely to implement new technology and participate in professional learning activities [
48]. Moreover, Drossel et al. [
49] found that positive views of ICT use positively impact the frequency of technology use. Therefore, teachers’ attitudes are critical to the acceptance of DLP use.
Second, SN is an important predictor of the acceptance of DLP use because the study found that SN directly influences BI, PU, and PEU. These results are consistent with Mazman Akar [
50] and Milutinovic [
51], who illustrated that SN significantly influences PU, PEU, and BI. Moreover, this finding indicated that when teachers display high levels of SN, they realize that DLP is useful for teaching and learning. Gurer [
34] stated that social pressure and ambition to obtain power and status among colleagues can shape their perceptions of the usefulness and ease of use of technology in a classroom. In general, teachers agree with students or school administrators on whether they consider technology useful and believe that it should be employed in teaching [
31]. Moreover, this finding suggested that those who are significant to teachers, including school administrators, colleagues, students, and parents of students, influenced teachers’ perception about the ease of using technology in the classroom [
52]. Therefore, the results implied that social influence could shape how individuals embrace and use technology [
53].
Third, the results illustrated that all the external variables (i.e., TSE, SN, and FC) influenced PEU. Moreover, TSE was found to be the most influential factor on PEU (β = 0.409;
p < 0.001). This result is consistent with prior studies [
34,
54]. Al-awidi and Alghazo [
55] found that TSE plays a significant role in elementary school teachers’ adoption of technology in the classroom. This finding indicated that teachers may have believed that they possessed different abilities to operate DLPs, such as making announcements, adding videos, and creating tests. This high level of TSE may have positively contributed to the perceptions of the teachers regarding the ease of use of DLPs. SN also significantly predicts PEU (β = 0.286;
p < 0.001) under the findings of Gurer [
34] and Milutinovic [
51]. Moreover, FC (β = 0.170;
p < 0.001) positively influenced PEU, which is in line with the literature [
41,
56]. Li et al. [
57] found that if primary and secondary school teachers’ PEU in a facilitating, supportive environment is high, they will most likely have a positive attitude toward technology use. Accordingly, when teachers perceive that adequate technical support, such as good quality of technology and technicians, is available, they are more likely to consider technology use to be effortless and become less concerned with technical issues.