Secondary School Teachers’ Adoption of e-learning Platforms in Post Covid-19: A Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) Perspective

Following the Covid-19 pandemic, there have been disruptions in the everyday running of educational institutions specially in secondary schools in Mauritius. In order to minimize the disruptions caused, the learning was shifted to an online system and the use of e-learning platforms was introduced. Given the limited number of studies on e-learning adoption by teachers in secondary schools after the Covid 19 pandemic and the more negative responses to e-learning in secondary schools in Mauritius than positive ones, this study sets out to investigate the adoption predictors of e-learning using the UTAUT through a qualitative lens. It seeks out to better understand the experience of secondary teachers using e-learning plaftforms. In total, 18 secondary school teachers were interviewed and the data were analyzed using NVivo software. Data collected were coded and the codes were gathered under themes and sub-themes through Thematic Analysis. One new theme ‘accessibility’ emerged in addition to the existing five themes from the UTAUT model. The importance UTAUT predictors and behavioral intention was reiterated. Moreover, accessibility has the potential of easing the adoption of e-learning platforms. The main recommendations for the education sector are to provide managerial support in terms of facilities, continuous training, incentives and to adopt a blended approach where e-learning is used as a support to existing teaching methods so that teachers are always technology-ready to switch to exclusive online teaching at short notice should the need arise.