Understanding Technology Adoption: Theory and Future Directions for Informal Learning

2009/06/01 by Evan T. Straub, Evan Straub · 1,253 citations
Decision Sciences · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Business #Cognition #Computer science #Construct (python library) #Diffusion of innovations #Digital Marketing and Social Media #Economics #Knowledge Management and Sharing #Knowledge management #Management #Marketing #Perception #Process (computing) #Psychology #Social cognitive theory #Social learning theory #Social psychology #Sociology #Technology Adoption and User Behaviour #Technology acceptance model #Theory of planned behavior

paper · doi:10.3102/0034654308325896

published in Review of Educational Research 79(2), 625-649 (SAGE Publishing)

openalex publication_date 2009/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

How and why individuals adopt innovations has motivated a great deal of research. This article examines individuals’ computing adoption processes through the lenses of three adoption theories: Rogers’s innovation diffusion theory, the Concerns-Based Adoption Model, the Technology Acceptance Model, and the United Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. Incorporating all three models, this article suggests technology adoption is a complex, inherently social, developmental process; individuals construct unique yet malleable perceptions of technology that influence their adoption decisions. Thus, successfully facilitating technology adoption must address cognitive, emotional, and contextual concerns. This article also focuses specific attention on adoption theory outside of a formal organization and the implications of adoption theory on informal environments.

Citations

• Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony
• User Acceptance of Information Technology: Toward A Unified View1
• Concerns of Teachers: A Developmental Conceptualization

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