Information technology diffusion in academic teaching
an institutional perspective
pp. 563-567
in: Ana M Bernardos, Karlheinz Kautz (eds), Open it-based innovation: moving towards Cooperative it transfer and knowledge diffusion, Berlin, Springer, 2008Abstract
Even though diffusion of information and communication technology (ICT) in academic teaching has been fast, the expected benefits in pedagogy and structure have yet to materialize. Rogers' diffusion theory, which focuses on adoption and rejection of innovation, can explain the proliferation of ICT usage in academia, but the lack of ICT-based pedagogical and structural changes are beyond the scope of diffusion theory. The objective of this paper is to broaden the theoretical base for explaining the state of ICT in academia via the alternative conceptual lens of institutional theory, which focuses on the relationship between the organization and its environment. With the institutional theory perspective in mind, we suggest that further pedagogical and structural changes in academic courses should not be expected as a result of ICT implementation in academic teaching.