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I believe for an administrator to ensure a successful technology integration at a program level, teacher collaboration and training should be two primary focuses. Teacher collaboration should be part of the process before deciding and moving forward with the new technology. While the administrator holds the power to make the decision, the teachers will be the primary users and should be consulted. Making a unilateral decision that affects everyone often diminishes trust and the teamwork and commitment that could be built from a more collaborative approach. In a collaborative approach, “key stakeholders must be involved at all levels in the process” (Caffarella & Daffron, 2013, p.163). When people don’t feel they had a voice in the decision or a seat at the table, responses can include actively challenging or passively ignoring the new initiative (Caffarella & Daffron, 2013). Our program suffers at times from a disconnect between our director and our professors. Her unilateral decisions sometimes do not make sense to the faculty and create frustration and discord. However, when topics are discussed in staff meetings, even when non-unanimous decisions are reached, more acceptance is still present because they were a part of the process, and all the voices were heard. I have seen that it makes a difference moving forward in morale and attitude toward whatever was decided.
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The second critical administrator take-on is providing technology training, which must continue during and after the technology integration. Within the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), training falls under Facilitating Conditions, one of the “four core determinants of intention and usage” (Venkatesh et al., 2003, p. 425). Facilitating conditions are “defined as the degree to which an individual believes that an organizational and technical infrastructure exists to support use of the system” (Venkatesh et al., 2003, p.453). The results from research with UTAUT show that facilitating conditions influence technology use (Venkatesh et al., 2012; Venkatesh et al., 2016), specifically that “the effect of facilitating conditions on behavioral intention is more pronounced for older women. This particular group of consumers views availability of resources, knowledge, and support as essential to acceptance of a new technology” (Venkatesh et al., 2012, p. 172). So, this may not be as important to everyone, but it is to me and the other female digital immigrants I work with.
Are these administration take-ons some of the most important to you?
SOURCES:
Caffarella, R. S., & Daffron, S. R. (2013). Planning programs for adult learners: A practical guide. Jossey-Bass.
Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B., & Davis, F. D. (2003). User Acceptance of Information Technology: Toward a Unified View. MIS Quarterly, 27(3), 425–478. https://doi.org/10.2307/30036540
Venkatesh, V., Thong, J. Y., & Xu, X. (2012). Consumer Acceptance and Use of Information Technology: Extending the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. MIS Quarterly, 36(1), 157–178. https://doi.org/10.2307/41410412
Venkatesh, V., Thong, J., & Xu, X. (2016). Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology: A synthesis and the road ahead. Journal of the Association for Information Systems. 17(5), 328-376. https://er.lib.k-state.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/unified-theory-acceptance-use-technology/docview/1794948207/se-2?accountid=11789
I do agree that both of these administrative take-ons are very important. I also have seen too many times where initiaves fail because not all stakeholders are consulted. Now that I sit in the chair that makes those decisions, I work hard to gather input from as many people as I can. I form committees and ask those committee members to communicate with others in their buildings. Unfortunately, that does not happen as expected. So now I do a combination of sending surveys to all and working with committee members about their responsibility to the group. When I get questions from a teacher I forward it to the committee member to answer. This has backfired a few times as they wanted to hear from ME but I am trying to build capacity. As time goes on it has gotten better as more groups begin to understand how I am working. One thing I have also done is to send a message to the whole district that outlines what is happening and who they need to talk to first. I am always happy to talk to anyone, but I want them to follow the channels so that all voices are heard.
ReplyDeleteThis has slowed some of our processes which can be hard when we have deadlines to spend money, but we are making strides to have a better process!
Adelyn
Thank you for your response. I'm impressed with all that you are doing to create an inclusive process. There will always be people who do not understand initially but it sounds like you are a good communicator and everyone is coming around to understanding your mission. We need more administrators like you!
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ReplyDeleteI really like how you brought in the Caffarella & Daffron from program planning. I hadn't really made the connection in my head yet how those skills connected to the professional development needed to on board new technologies. I should have, because you're right. The biggest take away from that was ensuring the buy in existed for the programming. Without it, the professional development efforts will bust. Thanks for helping me make that connection.
ReplyDeleteDo you think there is a way to balance on boarding a technology of those that aren't interested and bringing in the buy in for the supporting professional development?
DeleteCatie,
DeleteI don't know. I have been thinking about that through some of our conversations. I guess that is where the social influence aspect of UTAUT would come in. If you had the collaborative buy-in (at least majority) and the training available, maybe those not necessarily on board would at least feel that pressure around them to participate. Ultimately though, I believe that if someone remains uninterested, they will only put in the minimum effort and it will affect the group end result.
Your two points are spot-on in my opinion. First, have a voice and input matters. No one wants to be generally told to do something. Having input and choice in things that impact them and their work matters to most employees. I agree, I think the adaptation improves with answering why and including employee or student (or both) involvement.
ReplyDeleteTo your second point, training is important in my experience- but relevant, well planned and ongoing impactful training is what matters. It sometimes seems that a technology roll-out success or failure lies within the initial employee training. Is there trust? Have we developed an ease of use and do the employees find the technology helpful to their work? Those are critical questions we can help answer through a good roll-out or ongoing training program.