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Level 2 Digital Divide

(Conference Sub-Theme: Social Networking for Teaching and Learning )
__**Description**__ The purpose of this study is to describe the impact of technology diffusion initiatives at a private university in a is a teaching university, thus there is a strong focus on personal interactions with members of the community. The researchers have begun implementing technology diffusion practices that build off the social nature of the community in order to diffuse technology into the environment. Survey data from the initiative will be presented.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to describe the impact of a technology diffusion initiative at a private university in a large urban area. The researchers have noticed that the adoption of instructional technology at the university is slow as compared to other universities. The university is a teaching university, rather than a research university, thus there is a strong focus on personal interactions with members of the community. The researchers have begun implementing technology diffusion practices that build off the social nature of the community in order to diffuse technology into the environment. With the use of Web 2.0 technologies becoming more mainstream the researchers see promise in their technology diffusion initiative.

The need for faculty development is consistently identified as a primary factor influencing the adoption of new instructional technologies in higher education. Although needs have been assessed and workshops are designed to meet these needs, workshops are not very well attended. Additionally, very few faculty implement in their classroom what they learned at a workshop.
 * Background**

Research suggests that faculty are resistant to attending workshops because:
 * 1) Programs are developed without any knowledge or consideration about how faculty learn and grow (Chism, 2004); and
 * 2) Psychosocial factors influence the willingness of faculty to attend group workshops. (Cravener, 1999).

The observations described could have a negative impact in preparing students to develop the technological skills necessary to be successful in the 21st Century.

The researchers use Zhao, Lei, and Frank’s “The Social Life of Technology: An Ecological Analysis of Technology Diffusion in Schools” (2006) as the initial framework for their initiatives and expand upon the ideas set forth by Zhao et al (2006) to guide their initiatives. Additionally, the researchers provide two different perspectives for their initiatives. One perspective is that of a faculty member in the School of Education, who's students are typically practicing teachers. The other perspective is from the university's senior instructional designer. The initiative is on-going and data from questionnaires are being collected as the initiatives progress.


 * Our Initiative**
 * //Focus on Building Networks of Teachers. //**
 * Instructional Practices **


 * Use Web 2.0 technologies. The researchers have begun using Web 2.0 technologies in some of their classes so that some of the learning takes place outside of course management systems and so that learning can take place long after the class is done. This enables a network of practicing teachers to evolve and to grow as teacher education courses continue to use such technologies.


 * Faculty Development **
 * Attend Departmental Faculty Meetings. Traditionally, instructional designers do not attend departmental faculty meetings. Rather they invite faculty to attend workshops and training sessions based on perceived need or responses to surveys.
 * Hybrid Professional Development. Offer a Web 2.0 Tools for Teaching, Learning, and Research hybrid course emphisizing the capability of Web 2.0 Tools in building social networks for teaching, learning, and research.

**//Give the Idea Some Time and Encourage Play //** **Instructional Practices ** > > For instance, prior to an online technology class, students are asked to create a blog and a social bookmarking site. The goal is that by the time that class begins, the students will be familiar with the blog and social bookmarking tools so that they can then focus on the instruction rather than how to post a message or create a bookmark.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pre-Instruction. One instructional method that the researchers are beginning to implement is the use of pre-instruction for some classes. Prior to the beginning of a class, students are asked to explore specific Web 2.0 technologies that they will be using in their class. This enables the students to have time to explore the technology without deadlines and other stressors associated with using the new tools for instructional purposes. Additionally, it gives the students time to fully understand how to use the tool.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Faculty Development **
 * Follow-ups. The instructional designer contacts participants days after a workshop to further encourage the use of a technology for instruction as well as to answer additional questions they might have after the fact. This gives workshop attendees time to think about what they had learned in the workshop and allows them time to further explore the technology.


 * Taste of Technology. The instructional designer provides 'Tastes of Technology" seminars where they take 15 minutes to discuss a new technology and its use, the attendees then have the opportunity to discuss other possible uses of the showcased technology. Then based on the discussion generated from the seminar, further workshops or training are designed if there appears to be an interest.

<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">**//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Connect to Existing Practices, //** **//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Find the Right Niche, and Treat Computers as Part of the Existing Pedagogical Ecology. //**
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Instructional Practices (in teacher education courses) **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Use the Language of the Students. The researchers have implemented the use of social bookmarking tools so that utilize tagging. This way students and teachers can share resources using terms that are not "techno jargon" rather the terms are familiar to the students and relevant to their teaching. The use of a social bookmarking tools that utilize tagging is one of the great examples of how technology can be diffused into the environment by using the language of the of those using the technology.
 * Create Dynamic Instruction. In order to foster the adoption of technology for instruction, it is important to make sure that the given technology actually meets the needs of the students. They will not adopt the technology if they can not use it in their professional situation. Thus, the researchers have incorporated into some of the teacher education courses, dynamic projects that are customizable to the professional needs of the students.
 * Focus on the Instruction not the Technology. The researchers have designed some of their courses to focus on how the technology can be used in the classroom rather than focusing on the technology itself.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Faculty Development **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Focus on Faculty Needs Not the Technology. Faculty development initiatives are designed based faculty needs not technology tools. Design and delivery of opportunities customized to faculty needs by department, and individual follow up with each participant after group training has been delivered.
 * Partnerships. Partner with faculty to teach their students the applications of technologies that are used in their classes for completing activities and projects.
 * Hybrid Faculty Development. Teach a hybrid course to faculty on Applications of Web 2.0 Tools to Teaching, Learning, and Research. Materials are accessed and reviewed online the week prior to a one-and-a-half, face-to-face meeting where participants complete hands-on activities.


 * Conclusion**
 * __ By blending traditional social networking with modern technologies that enable social networking the researchers intend to increase the use of technology for instruction at their university. The results of surveys completed by participants of the various parts of the initiatives will be presented. __**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">Chism, N. (2004). Using a Framework to Engage Faculty in Instructional Technologies: A conceptual framework enables faculty development planners to better estimate the potential effectiveness of various strategies, <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px;">EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 27 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">, (2). Retrieved 9 February, 2010 from the World Wide Web:<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">[] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">Cravener, P. (1999). The Psychosocial Model of Faculty Development. The Technology Source, July/August. __Retrieved 9 February, 2010 from the World Wide Web:<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">[] __
 * References**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Crawford, G. & Rudy, J.A. (2003). Fourth Annual EDUCAUSE Survey Identifies Current IT Issues," Educause Quarterly, 26__, (2) pp. 12–26.__

__Green, K.C. (2002). The 13th National Survey of Computing and Information Technology in American Higher Education,__ Campus Computing__.

Zhao, Y., Lei, J., & Frank, K. A. (2006). The Social Life of Technology: An Ecological Analysis of Technology Diffusion in Schools. //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pedagogies. //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1 (2), 135-149.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Web 2.0 tools have the capability of developing online social networks, for example, Social Bookmarking is a social sharing of resources; Blogs create social networks in the sense that everyone can post comments and contribute to the same discussion; Wikis also allow for everyone to contribute and create a social network of participants.