Diffusion of an innovation: Computer technology integration and the role of collaboration

                         Hoerup, Sharon Lynn; PhD

                         VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY, 2001

                         EDUCATION, CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION (0727); EDUCATION, TECHNOLOGY
 

                         This study investigates the extent to which teachers adopted a computer technology innovation and the
                         role of collaboration in the adoption process. Semi-structured interviews with seven teachers and one
                         Computer Resource Teacher, supplemented by observations and documentation regarding the
                         innovation, provide data for an in-depth, ethnographic case study. Six months were spent in the setting
                         recording the teachers' interactions and processes centered on adopting the innovation. Results show
                         collaboration efforts among teams and the level of uncertainty regarding the innovation influenced the
                         amount of time and the degree to which each team adopted the innovation. Two other factors influenced
                         the adoption rate of the innovation: the interaction that the teachers had with a change agent, which
                         helped to decrease the level of uncertainty about the innovation with two of the teams and thus,
                         increased their adoption rate, and the innovativeness of individuals, which had a direct connection to the
                         rate of adoption and which influenced other members of the grade level and their rate of adoption. Each
                         participant's level of innovativeness, their compatibility and comfort with the innovation, and their efforts
                         to collaborate were significantly related to successful implementation of the computer technology
                         innovation.

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