The paper examines the importance of modern technology, its impact on the social development, and its use in education. Our basic assumption is that the frequency and quality of the use of educational technologies (broadly defined) will increase with the knowledge of the factors that affect its use. In the article we also define the concept of the information society, and examine different views on the impact of modern information and communications technologies on the society. We describe e-learning as a widespread form of education in the context of the information society, and introduce the theory of technology acceptance, on which the “Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology” (UTAUT) is founded. We find that in the adopting of e-learning and other educational technologies a key role may be played by the immediate social environment, psychological factors and technical features of the tool. These factors should therefore be taken into consideration when trying to encourage a wider use of these tools. One of the conclusions of the analysis is that the models of technology adoption could be extended with inclusion of the pedagogical aspects of e-learning, which are completely neglected in the traditional models.V članku predstavljamo pomen sodobne tehnologije in njen vpliv na družbeni razvoj ter uporabo v izobraževanju. Naša temeljna predpostavka je, da se bosta pogostost in kakovost uporabe izobraževalne tehnologije (najširše definirane) povečali s poznavanjem dejavnikov, ki vplivajo na njeno uporabo. V besedilu tako opredelimo koncept informacijske družbe in prikažemo različna mnenja o vplivu sodobne informacijsko-komunikacijske tehnologije na družbo. E-izobraževanje kot razširjeno obliko izobraževanja umestimo v kontekst informacijske družbe in predstavimo teorije sprejemanja tehnologije, na katerih temelji »enotna teorija sprejemanja in uporabe tehnologije« (UTAUT). Ugotavljamo, da imajo pri sprejemanju e-izobraževanja in drugih izobraževalnih tehnologijah glavno vlogo ožje socialno okolje, psihološki dejavniki in tehnične značilnosti orodja, zato morajo biti ukrepi za spodbujanje večje uporabe usmerjeni na eno od teh področij. Eden od sklepov pričujoče analize je razširitev modelov sprejemanja tehnologije s pedagoškimi vidiki e-izobraževanja, ki so pri klasičnih modelih povsem zanemarjeni
