Teaching and Learning Forum 2000 [ Proceedings Contents ] Implementing IT at an Australian university: Implications for university leaders Lina Macchiusi and Suzanne Trinidad Faculty of Education Curtin University of Technology Growing pressure is being placed upon educational institutions as students, employers and government look at the economic, demographic and technological environments of the present, expecting them to have the answers for the future. Many institutions are turning to information technology for these answers. A major concern by these institutions is the lack of useful implementation models. This paper will discuss some of the preliminary results of the first phase of a Doctoral study which involved surveying the academic teaching population at Curtin University of Technology and identifying their use of information technology in their teaching and learning. University leaders who are attempting to turn to information technology for answers to the demands of future tertiary teaching need to be acutely aware of providing the most effective strategies to promote such learning environments. Listening to the needs and concerns of those directly involved in the process appears to be a crucial element in adopting information technology.

Background

Innovation uptake

In addition to these 'critical mass' factors, the pedagogical forces that have driven the push for universities to adopt and incorporate information technologies include:

• Information access
  The World Wide Web has made it possible for all people to access primary sources of information. Mastery of this tool has become essential in order to gain access to an ever growing body of recent and up to date knowledge available to us electronically.

• New communication skills
  Employers are expecting graduates to be familiar with email etiquette and associated communication tools.

• Asynchronous learning
  This initiative has enabled institutions to cater for a variety of students by removing the barriers of time and distance. Students who are normally geographically disadvantaged have access to a variety of resources not usually at their disposal. (Deden & Carter, 1996).

• Leadership
  According to Dolence & Norris (1996), many educational leaders are inexperienced in conceiving growth oriented learning opportunities in the Information Age. They have been forced to deal with constant patterns of reorganisation and restructuring involving the difficult task of redefining values and transforming the culture of their organisation (Middlehurst, 1995; Farmer, 1990).

  Other issues appear to have surfaced at the institutional level. For example, Gilbert (1996) points to fragmented institutional planning where institutions fail to match the technology investment with an investment in people (i.e. adequate training, appropriate incentives) (Ehrmann, 1994; Lan, 1997; Williams, 1997; Alexander, 1998). In other institutions, plans tend to be driven by information technology and not necessarily by a pedagogical rationale and focus (Deden & Carter, 1996; Gilbert, 1996; Brown, Burg & Dominick, 1998). The lack of models for integrating information technology into the curriculum (Schofield, 1995; Gilbert, 1996; Northrup, 1997) also contribute to a lack of effective institutional planning.

• Technology infrastructure and cost
  Lack of uniformity in computer hardware and software systems (Brown, Burg & Dominick, 1998) within the one organisation is another factor noted in the literature as hindering the adoption of information technology. There also appears to be an assumption that technology will reduce operating costs and increase productivity (Green & Gilbert, 1995).

• Innovation and change
  As with many other kinds of innovations, even when technology has been well established, its greatest potential is rarely achieved (Candiotti & Clarke, 1998; Lan, 1997). It should be noted that one of the major factors contributing to the lack of adoption of any innovation, not just information technology, is the entrenched attitudes of the teaching staff along with an associated reluctance to change (Fullan, 1991; Candiotti & Clarke, 1998).

• Resources
  One of the major concerns for most institutions is a lack of resources and funding. People resources are stretched to the limit and teaching staff are not only asked to do more, but they are expected to do it differently (Gilbert, 1996; Northrup & Little, 1996).

University planning

The search for innovative applications of technology to educational purposes and other social needs, emphasising continuous improvement (Curtin Vision, Mission and Goals, 1999).

The study

Preliminary findings of the survey data

The survey was made available in hardcopy as well as electronic form via the Internet [http://www.iinet.net.au/~humbert/survey.html (accessed 22 Dec 99)]. Table 2 represents the IT use by the teaching staff sample.

One of the questions involved asking the respondents to rate the degree to which they had integrated IT into their own teaching and learning practices, based on Rogers' (1995) categories. Figure 1 reflects this rating.

Figure 1: Individual rating within school/department

These percentages are quite similar to those outlined in Rogers' (1995) model. He found in general that, the spread of the population when adopting any particular innovation was: laggards (16%), late majority (34%), early majority (34%), early adopters (13.5%), and the innovators (2.5%).

In order to determine an accurate and more detailed account of their IT use, the respondents were also asked to indicate the type of software they used to prepare for their teaching, that they used during their teaching and the software they expected their students to use (Table 3).

Figure 2 addresses the question of how individuals rated the issues of technical support, Internet access, integrating IT into teaching and learning, development of online courses and replacing aging hardware/software.

Figure 2: Technology issues currently confronting staff at work

Other data obtained by the survey provided more detailed insights into the respondents' thinking on these matters. For example, Figure 2 shows technical support to be the most important issue confronting staff (30.5%) and the more detailed response reflected in Table 4 shows that the statement I'd be likely to use technology more in my teaching if I got more technical support, was strongly supported by 29.7% (S/Agree 29.7%).

Other important issues identified through this key attitude question are noted in Table 5.

The teaching staff were also asked whether they had any personal goals regarding integrating IT into their teaching, and if so what were they. Sixty-five percent of the respondents said that they had personal IT goals and stated them. This paper doesn't allow the scope to comment specifically on those individual goals, however, what is pertinent here were the responses to how the University could help achieve these goals. The top five responses in order were:

1. Access to better and up to date equipment.
2. The need for more time to learn and practise new IT skills.
3. Information technology support.
4. Time release from teaching and other administration duties.
5. Availability of free IT courses.

Implications for leaders

The research to date shows that university leaders need to have planned strategies in place to assist in the challenge of adopting and integrating technologies into their teaching and learning environments. Importantly, university leaders need to provide:

Strategic Planning for effective use of IT in teaching and learning.
Up to date equipment, both hardware and software.
People supporting people, within Departments/Schools.
Patient leadership, appreciating the different needs of individuals.
Opportunities to further develop relevant IT skills.
Realistic expectations of individual's IT adoption.
Time release for staff to develop an appropriate level of knowledge and skills.

References

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