This study took frequency of use and the adoption process into account to define the participants and external variables of the research model. School electronic textbooks are a daily‐use technology and they are adopted in a compulsory, top‐down way. Their introduction can evoke feelings of anxiety among teachers because of a possible increase in workload. This compulsory adoption process contrasts with that for most other technologies, which are voluntary and less disruptive. In a school context, instructional designs of electronic textbooks that help explain user acceptance are sufficient in a bottom‐up, but not a top‐down, approach. To address this, individual, organizational, and social factors were included in our research model. A survey questionnaire to collect data from 306 in‐service teachers from eight secondary schools was used. The results showed that anxiety and positive attitude were the main barrier and catalyst, respectively, to the acceptance of such technology. One suggestion for researchers and two suggestions for school leaders on the adoption process were made.