Anxiety and acceptance of digital tools among students majoring in media in vocational colleges

This paper analyses the effects of anxiety on the acceptance of the application of digital tools on Chinese vocational college media students and also factors that affect adoption of technology both psychologically and socially. The investigation of the direct correlation between anxiety and the assessments of the perceived ease of use (PEOU) and the perceived usefulness (PU) of digital-based tools was conducted via a mixed-methods method, both including quantitative and qualitative data. Survey involved 200 of the students but 20 others were interviewed to gain insight on the qualitative aspect. The findings indicate that mean total “CARS (Computer Anxiety Rating Scale) score was 3.22 and the average amount of anxiety was moderate. The negative relation between anxiety and the PEOU (-0.47) and PU (-0.45) also indicated a strong negative relation meaning that an increment in anxiety adversely affects how students understand digital tools. Besides, peer influence (r = 0.42 and 0.41, respectively) and institutional support positively correlated with PEOU and PU, as well as technology acceptance rate (r = 0.45). Qualitative annotations identified that complexity of software, fear of failure, and lack of prior knowledge were some of the significant causes of anxiety. The level of anxiety was lower among students who were being supported by their peers and were provided with correct amounts of institutional resources. The research findings summarise that anxiety and its impacts can be minimised by using peer network and institutional support which, in turn, greatly improves acceptance of digital tools by students. Some suggestions to educators and institutions entail the need to improve peer-assisted learning, enhance institutional support, and digitized tools to make them easy to use to encourage technology adoption and overcome anxiety.