Date of Award

2012

Degree Type

Open Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Education, PhD

Program

School of Educational Studies

Advisor/Supervisor/Committee Chair

David E. Drew

Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member

Mary S. Poplin

Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member

Carl A. Cohn

Terms of Use & License Information

Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

© 2012 Sammy Elzarka

Keywords

diffusion of innovation, efficacy, higher education instruction, institutional policy, learning, technology barriers

Subject Categories

Education | Higher Education and Teaching

Abstract

The significance of integrating technology use in higher education instruction is undeniable. The benefits include those related to access to instruction by underserved populations, adequately preparing students for future careers, capitalizing on best instructional practices, developing higher order thinking activities, and engaging students whose relationships with technology are increasingly native, among others. The significance of the current study is based on the fact that few prior studies focused on the factors that support, or inhibit, the use of educational technology by faculty in schools of education. The data collection instrument was a survey designed by the principal investigator based on review of the literature and professional experience. Five constructs were addressed by the survey: institutional policies, belief in the learning benefits, efficacy with integrating technology with content, barriers to technology use, and personal uses of technology. The survey was administered online and targeted 379 full and part time faculty in schools of education throughout the U.S. A total of 203 faculty members responded which was a response rate of 53%. Several path analyses were conducted to determine the variables that most related with the dependent variable, rate of technology adoption for professional instructional purposes. The variable that had the strongest relationship with the adoption rate for professional use was the adoption rate for personal use. This held true for all subgroups except part-time and older faculty. Suggestions for future research include the use of additional data sources to measure the variables described here. Study of the role of institutional policies in technology adoption should consider administrator perspectives in addition to those of faculty. Study of learning benefits should consider students' views in addition to those of faculty. Finally, efficacy variables should consider perspectives of college leaders and administrators.

DOI

10.5642/cguetd/39

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