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Journal of Computing in Higher Education

, Volume 22, Issue 1, pp 38–59 | Cite as

Why university members use and resist technology? A structure enactment perspective

  • Canchu Lin
  • Ross Singer
  • Louisa Ha
Article

Abstract

This case study investigated university members’ use of and resistance to a communication information technology system in a higher education organization. This case study utilized the technology enactment framework to examine structure enactment in university members’ technology use and resistance. We found that the following structures were enacted in organizational members’ interactions with the system: maximum use, enhancing teaching, augmenting service, limited use, and resistance. Besides providing empirical evidence to the enactments of inertia, application, and change, this case study added a new enactment type, i.e., resistance, to the existing enactment typology. The findings provided empirical support to the structuration principle—the enabling and constraining nature of structure. Important implications were addressed with respect to adoption and implementation of technology in higher education institutions.

Keywords

Technology use Blackboard Structure enactment Resistance Technology enactment 

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.School of Media and CommunicationBowling Green State UniversityBowling GreenUSA
  2. 2.Department of Speech CommunicationSouthern Illinois UniversityCarbondaleUSA

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