As virtual reality (VR) technologies gain visibility in education, their sustainable integration depends not only on access to immersive hardware but also on teachers’ capacity to author VR learning experiences. Despite this, limited attention has been given to teachers’ acceptance of virtual reality editors (VREs), the very tools that enable educational VR creation. Addressing this authoring gap, this study identifies factors influencing teachers’ acceptance of VREs and reveals crucial insights to guide future design and development of such editors. Drawing on a contextual extension combining the Technology Acceptance Model for Teachers (T-TAM), UTAUT2, and technical proficiency constructs, data were collected from 339 in-service teachers via an online survey. Structural equation modeling using partial least squares (PLS-SEM) was employed to test the model. Of the 21 hypothesized relationships, 13 were supported. The model explained 60.6% of the variance in perceived ease of use (PEU); 64.4% in perceived usefulness (PU), and 45.8% in behavioral intention (BI) to use VREs. Findings revealed that acceptance of VR editors extends beyond classical technology adoption mechanisms, emerging from a complex interaction among user traits, environmental factors, and system characteristics. By positioning teachers as designers rather than passive consumers of immersive technologies, this study contributes to literature by conceptualizing VRE acceptance as a precondition for sustainable educational VR integration. The results offer implications for acceptance modeling in immersive environments and provide actionable design recommendations for developing VREs that enable teachers to become active creators of VR content and therefore, empower VR-supported learning experiences.
Çelik et al. (Thu,) studied this question.