Developing a context-responsive framework for optimum information and communication technology utilisation in Tanzanian secondary schools: Multi-group structural equation modelling and Delphi evidence

Information and communication technology (ICT) utilisation in Tanzanian secondary schools remains uneven across institutional contexts and between teachers and students. This study developed a context-responsive framework for optimum ICT utilisation through measurement validation, multi-group structural equation modelling, and a two-round Delphi assessment. The study integrates seven complementary perspectives to explain how ICT resources become meaningful educational practice. A quantitative model-development and validation design was applied within a Type 2 Design and Development Research orientation. Parallel questionnaire data from 1,334 teachers and 1,584 students across 56 schools were examined using reliability and validity assessments, confirmatory factor analysis, measurement invariance testing, and multi-group structural equation modelling. Four domains—technological readiness, organisational support, individual capacity and environmental enablers—were positively associated with utilisation, with technological readiness generally producing the strongest effects. The models explained 60.82% of the teacher-utilisation variance and 52.49% of the student-utilisation variance, while explanatory power varied across school categories. Teacher and student pathways were integrated into a common empirical framework. Two Delphi rounds involving 28 education experts assessed the framework’s clarity, relevance, feasibility, applicability and expected effectiveness, informing its refinement. The final framework combines a shared four-domain architecture with differentiated priorities for African Digital Schools Initiative, private, piloted and government schools. It is ready for controlled pilot implementation, followed by longitudinal evaluation of effectiveness and sustainability.