Equipping Lecturers for the iRevolution

Abstract

In this paper we explore several critical factors influencing educational technology adoption including teaching staff buy-in and the critical nature of lecturer professional development within educational technology adoption projects (Kukulska-Hulme & Pettit, 2007, 2008; Learning and Skills Network, 2009; Moser, 2007). The paper outlines and critiques the methods used to achieve this staff buy-in as the second phase of a larger longitudinal eLearning and mLearning participatory action research project (Cochrane, 2010). The overall project makes use of social constructivism as the underlying pedagogical theory driving and informing the changes taking place. A community of practice (COP) model (Wenger, 1998; Wenger, White, & Smith, 2009) has been developed as a means of guiding and supporting lecturers as they develop their eLearning skills together. Artifacts created through this process (boundary objects) were then used to bring the lurkers into the core group from legitimate peripheral participation into full participation within the project's supporting COP.