Assessing Science Teachers' Acceptance of and Readiness for Virtual Lab in Rural Schools

In many Global South countries, including South Africa, the adoption of Virtual Lab (VL) remains largely conceptual. This paper emphasizes the necessity of understanding teachers' perceptions of VL before implementation to mitigate risks of abandonment or underutilization post deployment. Guided by the Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989), the research employed a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach. Phase 1 comprised a questionnaire survey with 186 randomly selected life science teachers in the Eastern Cape province, and Phase 2 involved in-depth semi-structured interviews with 4 teachers. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Findings reveal positive perceptions and a solid intention to adopt VL among teachers, highlighting its perceived usefulness in rural schools. However, caution is warranted as intention alone may not ensure actual adoption. This paper offers insights into the perceptions of teachers in rural regions, whose voices are conspicuously absent in the broader discourse on adopting novel technologies in science education.