An extended technology acceptance model on immersive virtual reality use with primary school students

ABSTRACT Virtual Reality (VR) is an emerging technology with an increasing number of studies assessing its benefits in educational settings. However, there is a shortage of empirical studies aimed at evaluating the acceptance of this technology in primary education. The authors propose an extended version of the Technological Acceptance Model to examine students’ intention to use immersive VR. To this end, 111 fourth-graders completed a history teaching unit using immersive VR. Structural equation modelling was employed to assess causal relationships between six variables: prior knowledge, perceived attention, perceived utility, perceived ease of use, perceived enjoyment and attitude towards the use of immersive VR. The results indicate that students’ prior knowledge was not significant in explaining their intention to use immersive VR. However, perceived attention had a significant effect on this variable mediated through perceived utility. These results have important implications regarding the design and use of VR tools for educational purposes.