Notes from:
http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/innovation/adoptiondiffusion.htm
Definitions:
"Adoption" refers to the stage in which a technology is selected for use by an individual or an organization.
"Innovation" is similarly used with the nuance of a new or "innovative" technology being adopted. "Diffusion" refers to the stage in which the technology spreads to general use and application. "Integration" connotes a sense of acceptance, and perhaps transparency, within the user environment.
Typically, past adoptions of a new technology for education have signaled a confidence in its potential to alleviate a particular problem or to make a job easier or more efficient. Rarely has bringing about new social and functional conditions been a consideration which the Internet and World Wide Web technology have achieved.
Three important things about internet adoption:
1) A critical mass of adopters is needed to convince the "mainstream" teachers of the technology's efficacy.
2) Regular and frequent use is necessary to ensure success of the diffusion effort.
3) Internet technology is a tool that can be applied in different ways and for different purposes and is part of a dynamic process that may involve change, modification and reinvention by individual adopters.
Internet technology actually embodies a number of technologies--e-mail, databases, chat rooms, information and education resources, among others. Additionally, the Internet exhibits many elements that constitute a culture or community--language, symbols, rituals, interaction, and other elements of communication. The Internet can be perceived as a threatening competitor to the established norms of an existing culture or community, such as an academic department or some other institutional entity.
Potential adopters of a technology progress over time through five stages in the diffusion process. First, they must learn about the innovation (knowledge);
second, they must be persuaded of the value of the innovation (persuasion);
they then must decide to adopt it (decision);
the innovation must then be implemented (implementation);
and finally, the decision must be reaffirmed or rejected (confirmation).
The focus is on the user or adopter.
Important attributes to judge an innovation.
that it has an advantage over other innovations or the present circumstance (relative advantage),
that it is not overly complex to learn or use (complexity),
that it fits in or is compatible with the circumstances into which it will be adopted (compatibility).
The top down/ bottom up approach:
Determinists/ developer based regard technology as the primary cause of social change. The process is seen as a series of revolutionary advances that are thought to be out of direct human control. Consequently, focus is on an innovation's technical characteristics. Successful adoption/diffusion is the assumed result of an innovation's technological superiority. The innovation's developer is viewed as the primary change agent.
For instrumentalists/adopter based the process is evolutionary, and the causes of change are in social conditions and in human aspirations for change and improvement. Thus their focus is on the user (adopter) of a technology and its value as a tool to bring about desired change. Human control over the innovation is a key issue, and it is considered essential to understand the social context in which it will be used and the function that it will serve.
5 categories of technology adapters:
1) innovators who tend to be experimentalists and "techies" interested in technology itself;
2) early adopters who may be technically sophisticated and interested in technology for solving professional and academic problems;
3) early majority who are pragmatists and constitute the first part of the mainstream;
4) late majority who are less comfortable with technology and are the skeptical second half of the mainstream;
5) laggards who may never adopt technology and may be antagonistic and critical of its use by others.
Need for vertical support structure to overcome technophobia. When technology adoption begins from the grass roots, innovators and early adopters, with their strong technology orientation, may be able to get by on their own initiative. Narrowly focused technical support staff may not pose a threat or discouragement to them and their needs for initial training and support may be relatively easy to accommodate. Members of the early majority, however, tend to have no interest in the technology per se and some may exhibit a form of technophobia. Their introduction to the technology should be related to their perceived program and process needs. Since they tend to focus vertically within a discipline, training and support provided by staff who enjoy discipline/content credibility will likely be best received. Correspondingly, such training and support will be more transferable to the late majority and laggards.
Need for well-defined purpose or reason. The very existence of a technology may be reason enough for innovators and early adopters to pursue it. Their bent for experimentation and their innate interest in technology may dispose them to adopt it and be content with "finding a problem to fit the solution". Members of the early majority (and the others by extension), however, tend to derive their purposes from problems related to their disciplines. If the innovation can be demonstrated as an effective, efficient and easily applied solution to those focused needs, it is more likely to be adopted and integrated into the program.
Need for ease of use and low risk of failure. The early majority's aversion to risk quite naturally translates into a need for ease of use and early success if they are to adopt and diffuse the technology. The overlap with support and training requirements is obvious.
http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/innovation/adoptiondiffusion.htm
Definitions:
"Adoption" refers to the stage in which a technology is selected for use by an individual or an organization.
"Innovation" is similarly used with the nuance of a new or "innovative" technology being adopted. "Diffusion" refers to the stage in which the technology spreads to general use and application. "Integration" connotes a sense of acceptance, and perhaps transparency, within the user environment.
Typically, past adoptions of a new technology for education have signaled a confidence in its potential to alleviate a particular problem or to make a job easier or more efficient. Rarely has bringing about new social and functional conditions been a consideration which the Internet and World Wide Web technology have achieved.
Three important things about internet adoption:
1) A critical mass of adopters is needed to convince the "mainstream" teachers of the technology's efficacy.
2) Regular and frequent use is necessary to ensure success of the diffusion effort.
3) Internet technology is a tool that can be applied in different ways and for different purposes and is part of a dynamic process that may involve change, modification and reinvention by individual adopters.
Internet technology actually embodies a number of technologies--e-mail, databases, chat rooms, information and education resources, among others. Additionally, the Internet exhibits many elements that constitute a culture or community--language, symbols, rituals, interaction, and other elements of communication. The Internet can be perceived as a threatening competitor to the established norms of an existing culture or community, such as an academic department or some other institutional entity.
Potential adopters of a technology progress over time through five stages in the diffusion process. First, they must learn about the innovation (knowledge);
second, they must be persuaded of the value of the innovation (persuasion);
they then must decide to adopt it (decision);
the innovation must then be implemented (implementation);
and finally, the decision must be reaffirmed or rejected (confirmation).
The focus is on the user or adopter.
Important attributes to judge an innovation.
that it has an advantage over other innovations or the present circumstance (relative advantage),
that it is not overly complex to learn or use (complexity),
that it fits in or is compatible with the circumstances into which it will be adopted (compatibility).
The top down/ bottom up approach:
Determinists/ developer based regard technology as the primary cause of social change. The process is seen as a series of revolutionary advances that are thought to be out of direct human control. Consequently, focus is on an innovation's technical characteristics. Successful adoption/diffusion is the assumed result of an innovation's technological superiority. The innovation's developer is viewed as the primary change agent.
For instrumentalists/adopter based the process is evolutionary, and the causes of change are in social conditions and in human aspirations for change and improvement. Thus their focus is on the user (adopter) of a technology and its value as a tool to bring about desired change. Human control over the innovation is a key issue, and it is considered essential to understand the social context in which it will be used and the function that it will serve.
5 categories of technology adapters:
1) innovators who tend to be experimentalists and "techies" interested in technology itself;
2) early adopters who may be technically sophisticated and interested in technology for solving professional and academic problems;
3) early majority who are pragmatists and constitute the first part of the mainstream;
4) late majority who are less comfortable with technology and are the skeptical second half of the mainstream;
5) laggards who may never adopt technology and may be antagonistic and critical of its use by others.
| Early Adopters | Early Majority |
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Need for vertical support structure to overcome technophobia. When technology adoption begins from the grass roots, innovators and early adopters, with their strong technology orientation, may be able to get by on their own initiative. Narrowly focused technical support staff may not pose a threat or discouragement to them and their needs for initial training and support may be relatively easy to accommodate. Members of the early majority, however, tend to have no interest in the technology per se and some may exhibit a form of technophobia. Their introduction to the technology should be related to their perceived program and process needs. Since they tend to focus vertically within a discipline, training and support provided by staff who enjoy discipline/content credibility will likely be best received. Correspondingly, such training and support will be more transferable to the late majority and laggards.
Need for well-defined purpose or reason. The very existence of a technology may be reason enough for innovators and early adopters to pursue it. Their bent for experimentation and their innate interest in technology may dispose them to adopt it and be content with "finding a problem to fit the solution". Members of the early majority (and the others by extension), however, tend to derive their purposes from problems related to their disciplines. If the innovation can be demonstrated as an effective, efficient and easily applied solution to those focused needs, it is more likely to be adopted and integrated into the program.
Need for ease of use and low risk of failure. The early majority's aversion to risk quite naturally translates into a need for ease of use and early success if they are to adopt and diffuse the technology. The overlap with support and training requirements is obvious.
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