Technology adoption

Adoption refers to the acceptance, implementation and taking on of a new product or innovation. Innovation refers to something new, or more accurately something that is perceived as new. Rogers (1995:11) defines innovation as “an idea, practice or object that is perceived as new by an individual”. While the use of the term ‘innovation’ is commonly associated with physical artefacts, for example, technology, it also includes ideas and practices. When applied to, or used in educational context, it ought to be considered more widely to include pedagogical aspects that include teaching and learning frameworks, models, and methods, with their associated approaches and techniques.

Adoption theories focus on predicting individuals’ choices to accept or reject innovations. The adoption trajectory of people will be shaped by their take on the innovations’ perceived benefits, their motivations and their personal beliefs of being able to implement the innovations. These theories are not only focused on the adoption of an innovation, but are concerned with behavioural changes and the results of implementation such as the possible domestication of the innovation. The behavioural changes could be adaptations to existing practices or evolving new practices. Adoption theories thus focus holistically on change by looking at the constituent parts that make up the whole.

Adoption is not a one-time event, but rather a process (Hall, 1974:5-6), which Straub (2009:628) explains as “beliefs and attitudes … formed over time, which in turn may influence decisions”. Given the exponential rate of changes in technologies and the dynamic nature of the teachers in this study, the repeatable process of adoption and re-adoption will occur. Rogers (1995:208) proposes five attributes of the rate of diffusion. These presented in Figure 2.13.

Figure 2.13: Five attributes of rate of diffusion (Rogers, 1995:208)

Relative advantage offered by an innovation is a perception that a teacher could have that the innovation or technological product could be better than a previous one. Adoption, based on this, is said to be more rapid if the innovation is considered better (Rogers, 1995:217-218). Relative advantage could be related to usefulness in TAM.

Innovations that are familiar and fit in with teachers’ existing understandings are also said to be more readily adopted. This familiarity is referred to as compatibility (Rogers, 1995:223-224). Teachers sometimes consider an innovation to be complex, that is, difficult to understand, use or apply. This refers to the attribute of complexity, which is hypothesised to be negatively related to the rate of adoption of an innovation (Rogers, 1995:230-231). The attribute of complexity can be related to self-efficacy and perceived ease of use in TAM.

If a teacher is afforded the opportunity to try out an innovation, he/she may understand it better and see potential in its adoption. This chance for experimentation, according to Rogers (1995:231), is a trialability attribute which can be direct or vicarious. Trialability could be aligned to results’ demonstrability (TAM2) and perceived usefulness in TAM.

Observability leads pervasiveness in a culture, that is, the point when an innovation becomes so prevalent that even teachers, who would not normally espouse an innovation, consider adoption (Rogers, 1995:232). The idea behind observability is

similar to unspoken peer pressure, that is, if other teachers or managers use an innovation or own a new technology, the teacher will be more likely to consider adopting it as well.

The five attributes of the adoption–diffusion process are inherently descriptive and based on the attributes of an innovation. As such, these five attributes are insufficient for providing a basis for understanding the underlying cognitive processes that go into adoption decisions. The researcher sought to understand teachers’ reasons for adoption, that is, to understand the conscious decisions for actions. For this the researcher looked to the cognitive and affective processes associated with adoption which are distilled into five sequential stages (Rogers, 1995:169-170). These are shown in Figure 2.14:

Figure 2.14: Five cognitive processes of adoption (Rogers, 1995:169-170)

In the decision-making process of innovation adoption, teachers form either favourable or unfavourable attitudes toward an innovation. Attitude formation is a mental activity which is either cognitive (knowing) or affective (feeling). When teachers are faced with the possibility of having to adopt an innovation, they generally start with actively seeking information about the innovation.

The attributes set out earlier, such as relative advantage, compatibility and complexity, are considered important at the beginning stages when considering adoption. In developing attitudes toward an innovation, a teacher contemplates, mentally, options of how to apply it or how it can be applied to his/her current or

future situation before deciding whether or not to try it out. A teacher may then make a choice and decide to go into action and try out/use the innovation.

All innovations are typically associated with a degree of uncertainty in terms of their outcomes. This phenomenon causes a teacher to seek social reinforcement of his/her peers (Rogers, 1995:169-170). These decision-making processes naturally invoke concerns which are discussed later in the concerns-based adoption model.

The adoption theory is limited in that it focuses on certain attributes of an innovation and how these attributes promote adoption or non-adoption. It is equally important to note that the stages in the adoption theory focus on the innovation and do not necessarily factor in external variables. Its application in this study is limited, in that it does not tell us about the underlying reasons teachers have for undertaking e- Learning-related activities. This does not trivialise the processes, but to adequately address the research question of ‘why’ teachers engage in e-Learning practices, the cognitive and affective mental activities associated with intention and action are of particular relevance.

Attitude is the degree to which a person has a favourable or unfavourable disposition towards adopting an innovation (Ajzen, 1991:188). In the context of this study this positive or negative attitude of a teacher is one of the behavioural factors in the decision to accept or reject an innovation. When teachers make decisions to accept an innovation, they formulate a behavioural intent to use the innovation. This could lead to actual use which could be observed and measured.

A teacher could also have an unfavourable disposition and this could result in non- adoption. However a teacher may still engage in an action even if he/she holds an unfavourable attitude towards it. For example, the use of ICT may be mandatory and the teacher has to use it whether he/she likes it or not. While attitude is a determinant of intent (to use or not to use), its application as a predictor of a teacher’s action is not considered to be reliable across all contexts.