The Impact of Mandatory ICT Adoption during the COVID-19 Pandemic on Japanese University Instructors’ Perceptions and Continued Use of ICT

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the relationship between university instructors’ use of ICT in teaching and their perceptions of ICT, focusing on the unique circumstances before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, this study investigates whether the mandatory use of ICT during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 led to more positive perceptions of ICT among university instructors and whether these perception subsequently influenced their continued use of ICT. In Phase 1 of the research, a comparison of ICT usage between the 2006 academic year and the 2019–2022 academic years confirmed a sharp increase in ICT use among university instructors due to the pandemic. In Phase 2, data from 441 instructors who taught the same courses in both the 2019 and 2020 academic years indicated a relationship between ICT use and ICT self-efficacy. In Phase 3, a cross-lagged panel analysis of 243 respondents who participated in longitudinal surveys in 2020 and 2022 revealed that the more positive the beliefs about ICT formed during the first year of the pandemic, the greater the ICT use during the post-pandemic period.