Sustaining a problematic innovation

A ‘grounds-eye’ view of video conferencing through teachers’ experiences

Abstract

This paper reports on a study that explored the engagement of 17 academic staff with video conferencing technology in four large first-year classes in higher education during 2011. While the video conferencing brought a number of benefits, its implementation was far from straightforward, raising many issues about whether it should endure, and if so, in what form. Using an insider research approach, this paper considers 'grounds-eye' perspectives from teachers involved with the video conferencing. The findings identify three key issues that affected the sustainability of the video conferencing: a lack of synergy between individual, pedagogical, and organisational levels; the adoption of 'safe' practices by teachers when faced with uncertain learning settings; and the endurance of the video conferencing in an altered form. The paper casts some doubt on the positioning of teachers as 'future makers', showing how teachers can retreat into established practices when technology creates uncertainty in an educational context.