Abstract
Faculty members at Institutions of Higher Education have access to more technology than ever before and are teaching college and university students who use technology constantly in their personal lives. However, barriers still exist that limit how technology can enhance teaching at colleges and universities. This study examined the perspectives of faculty members, administrators, and technology support staff to examine the barriers and desired supports related to faculty members’ use of technology in their teaching. Findings indicated that the primary barriers were the amount of time needed to learn technologies and determine how to teach with them as well as the tension between focusing on teaching and other job responsibilities, including research. Desired supports included one-on-one, just-in-time support that was efficient and personalized to meet the needs of faculty members.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams Becker, S., Cummins, M., Davis, A., Freeman, A., Hall Giesinger, C., & Ananthanarayanan, V. (2017). NMC horizon report: 2017 higher education edition. Austin, TX: New Media Consortium.
Ajjan, H., & Hartshorne, R. (2008). Investigating faculty decisions to adopt Web 2.0 technologies: Theory and empirical tests. The Internet and Higher Education, 11(2), 71–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2008.05.002.
Alexander, B., Ashford-Rowe, K., Barajas-Murphy, N., Dobbin, G., Knott, J., McCormack, M., et al. (2019). EDUCAUSE horizon report: 2019 higher education edition. Louisville: EDUCAUSE.
Allen, I. E., Seaman, J., Lederman, D., & Jaschik, S. (2012). Conflicted: Faculty and online education. Inside Higher Ed, Babson Survey Research Group and Quahog Research Group, LLC. Retrieved May 1, 2019, from https://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/server_files/files/IHE-BSRG-Conflict.pdf.
Bennett, S., Bishop, A., Dalgarno, B., Waycott, J., & Kennedy, G. (2012). Implementing web 2.0 technologies in higher education: A collective case study. Computers & Education, 59(2), 524–534.
Bowen, J. A. (2012). Teaching naked: How moving technology out of your college classroom will improve student learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Brinkerhoff, J. (2006). Effects of a long-duration, professional development academy on technology skills, computer self-efficacy, and technology integration beliefs and practices. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 39(1), 22–43.
Burrell, S. (2017, March 06). The past, present and future of big data in higher ed. Retrieved March 11, 2019, from https://evolllution.com/technology/metrics/the-past-present-and-future-of-big-data-in-higher-ed/.
Dailey-Hebert, A., Mandernach, B. J., Donnelli-Sallee, E., & Norris, V. R. (2014). Expectations, motivations, and barriers to professional development: Perspectives from adjunct instructors teaching online. Journal of Faculty Development, 28, 67–82.
Dougherty, K. (2015). Factors that influence college faculty to adopt digital technologies in their practice. In Higher education in transformation conference, Dublin, Ireland (pp. 307–318).
Educause Center for Analysis and Research. (2017). ECAR study of faculty and information technology, 2017. Retrieved July 8, 2019, from https://library.educause.edu/-/media/files/library/2017/10/facultyitstudy2017.pdf.
Educause Center for Analysis and Research. (2019). Horizon report: 2019 higher education edition. Retrieved July 8, 2019, from https://library.educause.edu/-/media/files/library/2019/4/2019horizonreport.pdf?la=en&hash=C8E8D444AF372E705FA1BF9D4FF0DD4CC6F0FDD1.
Ertmer, P. A. (1999). Addressing first- and second-order barriers to change: Strategies for technology integration. Educational Technology Research and Development, 47(4), 47–61. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02299597.
Gappa, J. M., Austin, A. E., & Trice, A. G. (2007). Rethinking faculty work: Higher education’s strategic imperative. New York: Nolan Wiley & Sons Inc.
Georgina, D. A., & Olson, M. R. (2008). Integration of technology in higher education: A review of faculty self-perceptions. The Internet and Higher Education, 11(1), 1–8.
Grajek, S. (2018). Top 10 IT issues, 2018: The remaking of higher education. Retrieved May 1, 2019, from https://er.educause.edu/articles/2018/1/top-10-it-issues-2018-the-remaking-of-higher-education.
Green, K. C. (2018, June 22). The Babel problem with big data in higher ed|inside higher ed. Retrieved March 11, 2019, from https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/digital-tweed/babel-problem-big-data-higher-ed-1.
Gregory, M. S. J., & Lodge, J. M. (2015). Academic workload: The silent barrier to the implementation of technology-enhanced learning strategies in higher education. Distance Education, 36(2), 210–230.
Herman, J. H. (2012). Faculty development programs: The frequency and variety of professional development programs available to online instructors. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 16(5), 87–106.
Hora, M. T., Bouwma-Gearhart, J., & Park, H. J. (2017). Data driven decision-making in the era of accountability: Fostering faculty data cultures for learning. The Review of Higher Education, 40(3), 391–426. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2017.0013.
Hull, K., & Dodd, J. E. (2017). Faculty use of Twitter in higher education teaching. Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, 9(1), 91–104. https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-05-2015-0038.
Johnson, T., Wiśniewski, M. A., Kuhlemeyer, G., Isaacs, G., & Krzykowski, J. (2012). Technology adoption in higher education: Overcoming anxiety through faculty bootcamp. Online Learning, 16(2), 63–72. https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v16i2.240.
Kopcha, T. J. (2010). A systems-based approach to technology integration using mentoring and communities of practice. Educational Technology Research and Development, 58(2), 175–190. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-008-9095-4.
Kreuter, N. (2012, September 5). Salary realities: Graduate students and new faculty members need to know more about how compensation works. Retrieved May 1, 2019, from https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2012/09/05/essay-what-new-faculty-members-need-know-about-salaries.
Lammers, E., Bryant, G., Michel, L. S., & Seaman, J. (2017). Time for class 2017. Retrieved May 1, 2019, from http://tytonpartners.com/library/time-class-2017-2/.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-42374-8.; first published in 1990 as Institute for Research on Learning report 90-0013.
Lawless, K. A., & Pellegrino, J. W. (2007). Professional development in integrating technology into teaching and learning: Knowns, unknowns, and ways to pursue better questions and answers. Review of Educational Research, 77(4), 575–614. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654307309921.
Lederman, D. (2017, June 14). Barriers to digital learning? Time and training more than resistance. Retrieved May 1, 2019, from https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2017/06/14/lack-faculty-time-and-training-limits-digital-learning-more.
Levin, T., & Wadmany, R. (2008). Teachers views on factors affecting effective integration of information technology in the classroom. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 16, 233–263.
Lombardi, A. R., & Adam, R. L. (2017). Faculty and administrator knowledge and attributes regarding disability. In E. Kim & K. C. Aquino (Eds.), Disability as diversity in higher education: policies and practices to enhance student success (pp. 107–121). New York: Routledge is an Imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa Business.
Manrique, C., & Manrique, G. (2011). Leveraging learning resources: Social networking, online teaching utilities, digital media and the modern classroom experience. International Journal of Arts and Sciences, 4(21), 215–222.
Marsh, J. A., & Farrell, C. C. (2014). How leaders can support teachers with data-driven decision making. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 43(2), 269–289. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143214537229.
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldana, J. (2013). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Nagel, D. (2017, February 15). The 6 major barriers to technology adoption in higher ed. Retrieved May 1, 2019, from https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/02/15/6-major-barriers-to-technology-adoption-in-higher-ed.aspx.
New Media Consortium. (2017). NMC horizon report: 2017 higher education edition. Austin: The New Media Consortium.
Office of Educational Technology, U.S. Department of Education [OET - USDE]. (2016). National education technology plan. Future ready learning: Reimagining the role of technology in education. Retrieved May 1, 2019, from http://tech.ed.gov/netp.
Palloff, R., & Pratt, K. (2011). The excellent online instructor: Strategies for professional development. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Pomerantz, J., & Brooks, D. C. (2017). ECAR study of faculty and information technology. Louisville: ECAR.
Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). New York: Free Press.
Samarawickrema, G. & Stacey, E. (2007). Adopting web-based learning and teaching: A case study in higher education. Distance Education, 28(3), 313–333.
Seale, J. K. (2014). E-learning and disability in higher education accessibility research and practice. New York: Routledge.
Spotts, T. H. (1999). Disriminating factors in faculty use of instructional technology in higher education. Journal of Educational Technology and Society, 2(4), 92–99.
Stansbury, M. (2016). How to make higher education technology investments that pay off. eCampus News: Today’s Innovations in Education. Retrieved July 22, 2019 from https://www.ecampusnews.com/2016/12/07/higher-ed-technology-investments/.
Terosky, A. L., & Heasley, C. (2014). Supporting online faculty through a sense of community and collegiality. Online Learning. https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v19i3.673.
Watty, K., Mckay, J., & Ngo, L. (2016). Innovators or inhibitors? Accounting faculty resistance to new educational technologies in higher education. Journal of Accounting Education, 36, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaccedu.2016.03.003.
White, A. S., Howell Smith, M., Kunz, G. M., & Nugent, G. C. (2015). Active ingredients of instructional coaching: Developing a conceptual framework (R2Ed Working Paper No. 2015–3). Retrieved from r2ed.unl.edu/
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Polly, D., Martin, F. & Guilbaud, T.C. Examining barriers and desired supports to increase faculty members’ use of digital technologies: perspectives of faculty, staff and administrators. J Comput High Educ 33, 135–156 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12528-020-09259-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12528-020-09259-7