Perceived usefulness of mobile devices in assessment: a comparative study of three technology acceptance models using PLS-SEM

The use of digital media in education has already been addressed in numerous technology acceptance models, but there is very little research on establishing a link between acceptance and assessment using mobile devices, a reality in educational institutions. This work aims to extend research by developing the TAM model and studying teachers’ perceived usefulness of mobile devices in terms of how they understand assessment: generically, as a summative and a formative assessment, or as the complementarity of these. This study proposes a comparison between three models using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) on a sample of 262 master’s degree students (pre-service teachers). The results show the validity of the three proposals and confirm the advantages to specifically consider assessment in acceptance models, as well as the importance of addressing its modalities differently after obtaining better results in the two models that do so. The study also confirms the importance of self-efficacy in the use of mobile devices as a predictor of usefulness and intention to use in the three models. The use of a comparative approach and the development of the perceived usefulness construct in assessment represents a new contribution to the field of acceptance studies.