Factors for adopting the Internet for instruction.

Abstract

In this study the factors that influenced faculty in the decision to adopt the Internet for instruction at a southeastern United States university were examined. The main purpose was to determine the personal, social, and organizational factors that influenced faculty members in the adoption of the Internet for instructional delivery. Results confirm personal factors are most influential in faculty decision to adopt the Internet for instruction.

Introduction

Distance education is any educational or learning process or system in which the teacher or instructor is separated geographically or in time from his or her students or educational resources. Enrollment in distance education courses has nearly doubled since 1995, with more than half (56%) of the nation's two and four year degree-granting institutions offering distance education courses in the 2000-2001 academic year (NCES, 2003). The Internet was used as the primary mode of instructional delivery with ninety percent of institutions utilizing asynchronous (not simultaneous) computer-based instruction and 43% offering Internet courses using synchronous delivery. Technology such as the Internet offers ways to improve the general efficiency and effectiveness of teaching and communication among constituencies (Doherty & Pope, 1986). With these new technologies, faculty members have available new ways to communicate and support effective and timely classroom discussions with their students, peers, and administrators (Sproull & Kiesler, 1991). Developing a new distance education program, or expanding an existing one, requires change or adoption of an innovation (Schiffer, 2000) including changes in established systems (Rogers, 2003). Unfortunately, change does not come easily (Olcott & Wright, 1995). In order for distance education programs to succeed, faculty must be willing to participate.

A number of researchers have examined the factors that influenced faculty in the adoption of the Internet for teaching (Schifter, 2000; Chang, 2001; Medlin, 2001; Rovai, 2002). These factors can be grouped into three categories: personal, social, and organizational. Personal factors include personal interest to use technology, opportunity to develop new ideas, opportunity to improve teaching, opportunity to diversify program offerings, and greater flexibility for students (Schiffer, 2000). Social factors include peer support or peer pressure, shared departmental values, and mentors (Chang, 2001; Medlin, 2001). Organizational factors include mandates from the university, institutional rewards or incentives, and physical resources (Medlin, 2001; Rovai, 2002).

Research Questions

This research examined the influence of three factor categories--personal, social, and organizational--to determine which were important in the decision of faculty members in choosing to teach online. Specifically, the study answered the following research questions:

1. What personal factors influenced faculty in the decision to adopt the Internet for instructional delivery?

2. What social factors influenced faculty in the decision to adopt the Internet for instructional delivery?

3. What organizational factors influenced faculty in the decision to adopt the Internet for instructional delivery?

Methodology

The potential pool of participants consisted of all faculty members from a southeastern United States university who provided online instructional delivery of a course (25% or more of the total contact hours) during the spring 2005 semester. The Faculty Perceptions of Teaching Online Survey (FPTOS) was distributed to 288 participants via their university e-mail account and a total of 123 participants participated for a response rate of 43%. The survey was designed using items from a questionnaire by Medlin (2001) describing the personal, organizational, and social factors that influenced a faculty member's decision to adopt the delivery of online instruction. In Medlin's study, respondents were asked to rate the level of agreement for each factor based on the degree to which they thought the factor influenced their decision to adopt the Internet for teaching. Examples of personal factors included greater course flexibility for students, ability to reach new audiences that cannot attend classes on campus, personal interest in enhancing student learning and instructional technology, and improving their teaching. Examples of the social factors included shared values in their department, peer support, student encouragement, and the encouragement of friends. Working conditions, technical support provided by institution, physical resources, mandate from the University, and career exploration are examples of the organizational factors. Demographic data was also collected.

Demographics 

Demographic data for participants (n=123) were analyzed in relation to gender, position, highest degree earned, age, and teaching experience, both in the classroom and online. The participants were asked to report on the number of classes they were currently teaching online. The percentages of responding faculty demographic data are presented in Table I. Faculty responses to number of years experience are shown in Table 2. See issue website http://rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/spr2006.htm

Data Analysis

The focus of the study was to determine the factors that influenced faculty in the decision to adopt the Internet for the delivery of instruction. Descriptive statistics, including overall mean scores and standard deviations for all variables considered to be factors, were examined. The mean and standard deviation taken together provide a description of how influential respondents perceived a factor to be in their decision to adopt the Internet for instruction. The FPTOS allowed respondents' answers to be numerically coded and statistically analyzed through the use of a five-point Likert scale. The scale allowed respondents to rate the level of agreement for each factor based on the degree to which they thought the factor influenced their decision to adopt the Internet for teaching. Means were calculated for each factor category. Categories with means of 3.75 or greater were considered to be the most influential factors in the decision of faculty to adopt the Internet for instruction. Factor categories with a mean of 3.74 or lower were considered to be less influential. As an example, a mean of 4.26 for question 1--"ability to reach new audiences that cannot attend classes on campus"--signified that respondents considered this item an influential factor in their decision to adopt the Internet for instruction. Conversely, a score of 2.47 for question 3--"credit toward promotion and tenure"--signified that the factor was not considered as influential in the decision to adopt the Internet. This method of scoring is similar to past studies utilizing similar instruments (Schiffer, 2000; Chang, 2001; Medlin, 2001; Betts, 1998; Giannoni & Tesone, 2003).

Results

The mean scores and standard deviations for the three categories (personal, social, and organizational) of factors that influenced a faculty member's decision to adopt the Internet for the delivery of instruction were calculated. Personal factors were the most influential in faculty members' decision to adopt the Internet for instruction with a total mean of 3.76, while the social factors yielded a total mean of 2.93, and organizational factors yielded a mean score of 2.71. The individual factors considered the most important by faculty in the decision to adopt the Internet for instruction in descending order are: greater course flexibility for students (mean equals 4.29); ability to reach new audiences that cannot attend classes on campus (mean equals 4.26); personal interest in student learning (mean equals 4.02); personal interest in instructional technology (mean equals 3.96); personal motivation to use technology (mean equals 3.98); personal interest in improving teaching (mean equals 3.95); opportunity to diversify program offerings (mean equals 3.93); support or encouragement from dean or chair (mean equals 3.89); and opportunity to develop new ideas (mean equals 3.83).

Even with the growth of distance education offerings and enrollments, many faculty members are hesitant to teach online. In fact, 50% of faculty in a National Education Association (2000) survey conveyed negative or uncertain feelings towards distance learning in postsecondary institutions. However, little research has focused on the perceptions of faculty and the factors that influenced the decision to deliver instruction over the Internet. Such an analysis may provide insight into why some higher education faculty members choose to adopt distance education for instructional delivery.

Personal Factors

Personal factors were expected to have an influence on a faculty member's decision to adopt the Internet for instruction (Betts, 1998; Medlin, 2001; Schifter, 2000) and this is confirmed in this study. Nine of the fifteen personal factors (56.25%), were found to be rated above the mean of 3.75 indicating they were influential in the decision to adopt the Internet for instruction. As a category, personal factors were also found to be the most influential of the three categories with a mean of 3.76, compared to social factors (mean equals 2.92) and organizational factors (mean equals 2.71). Betts (1998), Giannoni and Tesone (2003), Medlin (2001) and Schifler (2000) found that faculty's personal or intrinsic motivators are stronger than extrinsic motivators when it comes to participation of faculty in online teaching and this study also supports this research finding.

Social Factors

Social factors were less influential in the decision of faculty to adopt the internet for instruction (total mean of 2.93). When examining the individual social factors, "shared values in my department" (mean equals 3.35) and "peer support" (mean equals 2.38) received the highest scores although both were below the cut-off score for being rated as influential (mean was greater than or equal to 3.75) in their decision to adopt.

Organizational Factors

In order to answer the third research question, "What organizational factors influenced faculty in the decision to adopt the Internet for instructional delivery," eighteen factors were examined to identify the influence of those items on the decision to adopt; "working conditions" and "technical support provided by the institution" received the highest scores. As with the social factors, none of the organizational factors were rated as influential (total mean was greater than or equal to 3.75) in the decision to adopt the Internet for instruction.

Conclusion

Personal motivations include providing greater course flexibility for students, the ability to reach new audiences that cannot attend classes on campus, personal interest in enhancing student learning, personal interest in instructional technology, personal motivation to use technology, personal interest in improving teaching, opportunity to diversify program offerings, support and encouragement from dean or chair, and opportunity to develop new ideas. Social factors that received the highest scores influencing faculty in teaching online include shared values within their department and peer support. Organizational factors that received the highest scores influencing faculty in their decision to adopt the Internet for instruction include working conditions of time and location and technical support provided by the institution. In this study, personal factors were found to be most influential in the decision to adopt the Internet for instruction according to the criteria (mean is greater than or equal to 3.75).

Two implications were revealed as a result of this study: (a) administrators may need only to provide support and encouragement for online teaching, and (b) administrators should be aware of faculty members' personal interest in instructional technology and personal motivation to use technology.

Institutions of higher education continue to build and revise distance education programs. More specifically, courses being taught online continue to grow and offer a variety of benefits to faculty, students, and school administrators. The success or failure of distance education rests on the enthusiasm with which faculty embrace new technologies. The results of this study reinforce the need for administrators to be aware of the personal, social, and organizational factors that influence adoption of online teaching. Understanding what truly motivates faculty to participate in distance education could help administrators in encouraging faculty who have stronger intrinsic motives over personal needs. Knowledge of these factors will help support a successful innovation adoption decision.

References

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Deborah Grimes, South Lenoir High School 

Cheryl McFadden, East Carolina University 

Susan Colaric, Saint Leo University 

Grimes, Ed.D., is an assistant principal at South Lenoir High School and a recent doctoral graduate of East Carolina University. McFadden, Ed.D, is an assistant professor in educational leadership at East Carolina University. Colaric, Ph.D., is the director of instructional technology at Saint Leo University.