Taking advantage of emerging educational technologies

Abstract

The chief academic officer needs to decide on appropriate attitudes, issues, implementation strategies, and evaluative criteria in dealing with the new technologies.

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“…Outright sabotage and knowledge-hoarding were cited as ways in which faculty have thwarted the integration of educational technologies (Shrock, 1985;Rogers, 1975;Kozma, 1985). Kelly and Anandam (1984) were more sympathetic to the reticence of faculty to change the structures by which teachers teach and students learn. Habermas (1973) defends the slowness of faculty to adapt to changes and technologies.…”

“…It is important to assess an innovation in terms of its: a) relative advantage; b) compatibility; c) complexity; d) trialability; and e) observability (Rogers, 1975). Kelly and Anandam (1984) note that various technology vendors will use 'haphazard, piecemeal, and erratic' means of making a sale to the university, and these might not necessarily be compatible with the existing organizational needs. The development of a technology in the university must be considered evolutionary.…”

“…As faculty hold value systems which may differ from those of university administrators, Kelly and Anandam (1984) caution that the cost-effectiveness of a technology should be weighed from several different viewpoints before identifying this as a relative advantage in adopting it. Cost-effectiveness is a subjective concept with different interpretations.…”

“…As early as 1972 the Carnegie Commission recognized the importance of integrating educational technologies into higher education (cited in Carr, 1986). Many have called attention to the need for higher education to prepare to incorporate these technologies (e.g., Lielber, 1978;Boaz, 1982;Kelly & Anandam, 1984;Carr, 1986;Wartgow, 1986). The challenge is to combine all types of education to make a superior quality of higher education using technology.…”

“…Shrock (1985) documented the suspicions faculty and educational technologists had of each other, and the problems these suspicions caused in implementing technologies in higher education. Kelly and Anandam (1984) and Heinich (1984) state that these technologies are threatening to faculty in that the very structures by which teachers teach and students learn may undergo drastic changes. In total, barriers appear to exist which have prevented the integration of educational technologies into university teaching.…”