Abstract:

It is obvious that technological evolution is an inherent of human progress and that human society is co-constructed in relation to it, work processes, learning processes, economic processes, culture e.g. being redefined. But in this co-construction, individual psychological coordinates as people's thinking, values, attitudes are also deeply involved. The adoption of technology, even in learning processes, is not always realized without delay, without resistance, or the use does not capitalize on the full potential of the tools. The concept of technological lag expresses a desynchronization through the advance of material culture in favor of non-material culture such as values and social norms. If the material culture changes very quickly, the ideas, beliefs, attitudes, taste's philosophy habits, ideologies, institutional structures and other aspects of non-material culture change slowly and gradually. The present study aims to carry out an evaluation of the types of attitudes and values that different generations of students and teachers have formed towards the use of technology, the importance and the effects it produces on a personal level as an identity (e.g. source of identity, depersonalization, sense of control) in terms of personal efficiency (self-efficacy, self-engagement), in terms of the functioning of society as a whole (e.g. equity, equal opportunities, dehumanization, consumerism). The types of attitudes, evaluated through 7-step Likert scales, are linked to the patterns of technology consumer behavior (innovators or laggards) that the two analyzed generations develop. The obtained results indicate segregation of technology consumer patterns for generations, which is also reflected in segregation of systems of shared attitudes/values.

Keywords:

Adoption of technology, technological lag, attitudes/values, innovators, laggards.