Assessing Digital Technologies’ Adoption in Romanian Secondary Schools

Digital transformation is reshaping educational methods and necessitates new institutional, teaching, and learning approaches. In Romania’s secondary school system, this process is particularly complex due to infrastructural disparities, uneven digital competencies, and limited policy guidance. This study investigates the factors influencing Romanian secondary school teachers’ adoption of digital technologies, addressing a gap in the literature regarding localized teacher behavior within under-digitalized educational environments. Using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), this research explores perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, behavioral intention, and perceived quality as determinants of digital adoption. The analysis was conducted on a sample of 430 teachers utilizing Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The key findings reveal that behavioral intention strongly predicts actual usage (β = 0.791, p < 0.001), and perceived ease of use exerts a greater influence than perceived usefulness. Furthermore, perceived quality plays a modest but significant mediating role in enhancing digital engagement. These results suggest that user-friendly, intuitive technologies and targeted professional training are essential for sustained adoption. This study contributes to the field by offering a context-specific understanding of technology’s acceptance in Eastern European education and by extending the TAM framework through the integration of perceived quality. It provides actionable insights for policymakers and school leaders seeking to promote sustainable and inclusive digital transformation in schools.