Designing for successful diffusion

A faculty-based approach to enhancing staff use of technologies for effective teaching and learning

Abstract

The use of learning management systems and other technologies to support teaching and learning in higher education contexts is becoming ever more important, especially as universities move towards increasing offerings to students over the internet. However, as many researchers have found, academic staff engagement with educational technologies has been relatively marginal, with innovations not always diffusing to the majority. In any faculty, staff are likely to have a varying range of technological and techno-pedagogical competencies and differing motivations for using educational technologies and e-learning principles. This paper reviews contemporary research on technology adoption in higher education contexts which has informed the design of a current faculty-based project to address the emerging demands of the twenty-first century higher education landscape by enhancing staff use of technologies for effective teaching and learning.