A dissertation completed at
The Center for Education, Widener University,
One University Place, Chester, PA 19013 		 
A STUDY OF THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY IN INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Leonora Geran, Ed. D.
November 1995

RETURN
edited 3/25/01

 


ABSTRACT

The power of today's emerging information and communication technologies can create dynamic, highly productive learning environments for America's students. Administrators of academic institutions must now incorporate these technological advances so as to prepare students for the ever-changing technologically based economy. Therefore, administrators have embarked on some of the most searching reassessments of technology's role in higher education since the introduction of personal computers in the 1980s. For the first time, administrators are seriously altering the way they deliver public services by the use of advanced technology.

The purpose of this research was to provide administrators with information concerning the variables associated with the human and managerial characteristics and activities which tend to contribute to the successful implementation of advanced technologies into academic institutions.

This study examined the interrelationships between attitude, computer use, training instruction, frequency of use, gender, age, budgets and institutional categories of administrators at the post-secondary level. The population for this study included 4200 American institutions of higher education. Three hundred nine respondents were included in the study. This represented a 77.25% response rate.

Sixteen research hypotheses.were analyzed. It was found that a difference in attitude toward implementing advanced technology existed due to gender, age, and budget ranges. There was no difference in attitude according to the various classifications of postsecondary institutions. However, it was found that task and role characteristics, perception of the organization's capacity to change and the decisionmaking process were different due to the various classifications. There was no difference in how frequently advanced technology is used for classroom instruction, the kinds of training offered/encouraged to faculty in instructional uses of computers or the average number of hours of workshops attended by faculty in instructional uses of computer technologies with respect to the various classifications.

The amount of faculty and staff development workshops organized/sponsored in computer training and how frequently advanced technology is used for classroom instruction had no relationship to the 14 budget ranges and the 4 classifications. There is no difference in how frequently advanced technology is used for classroom instruction with respect to gender, but was found to be different with respect to age. However, there was no difference in the amount of faculty workshops organized/sponsored in computer usage due to age. There was a difference in the kinds of training offered/encouraged to faculty in instructional uses of computers with respect to gender.

Recommendations for future research include a replication of the study; an expansion of the study comparing the attitude, computer use, training instruction, frequency of use, gender and age of faculty in the various classifications of postsecondary institutions; and a longitudinal study involving administrators and how these interrelationships change as technologies change over time.

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