Exploring academics’ perspectives related to the adoption of Augmented Reality applications within an e-learning environment in Higher Education institutions: The role of AR self-efficacy, innovation resistance, perceived AR fatigue and technology involve

Abstract

The learning environments is in continuous change and relies heavily on new technologies. Augmented Reality (AR) applications and tools are a novel e-learning tools that could be an essential component to the educational process and can accelerate students’ learning in virtual classrooms. Augmented reality applications focus on the student's involvement in the learning process and try to close the gap between student's capabilities and the real-life experience. This paper intends to explore university academics' perspectives and acceptance to use Augmented Reality applications within an e-learning environment in Higher Education institutions. A conceptual model was developed based on Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), Innovation Resistance Theory (IRT), Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) and Social Cognitive Theory (SCT). PLS-SEM was used to analyse data from 275 university academics in two large universities in Saudi Arabia. The study findings showed that subjective norm, AR self-efficacy (SE), perceived AR fatigue, technology innovativeness and innovation resistance significantly influenced the intention to use AR as e-learning tool. Moreover, complexity showed insignificant results.  The implications of this study are discussed and proposals for future research initiative are presented.