Straddling the technology adoption chasm in university teaching practice using Multi-Mediator Modelling

Abstract

This poster presentation demonstrates how a computer simulation can be applied to examine the problem of spreading the adoption of elearning innovations that originate 'bottom-up' in higher education teaching practice. The computer simulation used in this doctoral study allows enabling and inhibiting links to be drawn between factors in 'bottom-up' technology adoption. These factors have been identified from case studies of 'bottom-up' e-learning adoption found in the research literature. The resulting computer model provides an interactive view across a whole university system of stakeholder relationships between university management, central support services, elearning innovators and elearning adopters involved in university teaching. The poster provides an explanation of how the computer modelling process works when different stakeholder experiences and perspectives are applied to connect the factors in the model. The application of a computer simulation in interviews for this study addresses the limitations of case study research methods to examine this problem.