Resisting Change or Integrating Technology

Nothing endures but change.

Heraclitus. 540-480 BC

Technology integration is actually more a question of doing things differently rather than doing more, and it is not a temporary fad that will go away in the future. One only has to look at the depth that technology has already permeated modern day society for proof of this statement.

Everett M. Rogers has conducted several decades of research on the ways that people respond to change in areas ranging from agricultural, through medical to acceptance of technological innovations. His Diffusion of Innovations Model can help us recognize effective approaches to initiating effective change as we adapt to the demands of the new century.

Rogers defines the most important elements effecting acceptance of new ideas as:
1. how people perceive the value of the changes,
2. how the ideas are communicated,
3. Sufficient time to understand the new ideas, change attitudes and make a decision, and
4. how people respond to change.

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives."

William James, 1842 – 1910

The characteristics which determine rate of change are relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, observability

So how does this information help teachers make the shift towards using technology? We need to look at the many questions that the introduction of technology into the classroom evokes.

How is the change perceived as an improvement. In what ways does technology facilitate the identification, organization and interpretation of facts, opinions and or raw data? In what ways does technology improve the learning process or the construction of meaningful products?

In what ways is the change consistent with past experiences and/or present values? In what ways does technology enhance traditional methods? How can we modify our traditions methods to take advantage of the new opportunities now available to students?

How can we make the training as easy as possible for teachers? How can we simplify the task of changing planning and instruction as well as revising the scheduling procedures for computer facilities?

Is there sufficient opportunity for teachers to experiment with the equipment and practice/perfect their own skills?

The more visible the change, the more likely the adoption will be, so how can we provide opportunities for teachers to see other classes using technology effectively?

Rogers' research reminds us that, reducing the complexity of the task of learning with computers, increasing the perception of the advantages that can be gained by using technology, clarifying the compatibility of the new tools with previous educational beliefs, providing frequent opportunities for hands on experience, and making results more visible will contribute to the speed of adoption of technology within the schools and the effective integration of the ICT learner outcomes.

It is necessary to build sufficient knowledge as well as change attitudes toward a new idea to influence the decision to adopt or reject a new idea. Most people are influenced by the opinions of friends and colleagues who have already accepted the changes. This reaffirms that one of the best ways to encourage teachers to adopt technology into their repertoire of methodologies is to make sure that the teachers who are ready for change get sufficient support to be successful and then give them the opportunity to model their success for others.

People need time to understand new ideas, change attitudes and make a decision. We must accept that radical change does not happen over night. However, we must also make sure that we don’t put off for tomorrow what we can comfortably manage today. The implementation period for the integration of the technology learner outcomes has begun, and we have 2 ½ years to accomplish it in all grades.

According to Everett Rogers' research “The degree that a person is open to change and innovation will seriously affect the rate of change.” Rogers identified five categories of innovativeness: (1) innovators, (2) early adopters, (3) early majority, (4) late majority, and (5) laggards\resisters.

Innovators
Rogers says that innovators are the first 2.5 percent of the population to adopt new ideas. They are intellectual risk takers who are socially connected with other distant innovators. Innovators are daring and experimental and have the ability to understand and apply complex technical concepts while able to cope with a high degree of uncertainty. Innovators may have access to financial resources or are innovative in financing their projects. Innovators serve their community as the gatekeepers to the flow of new ideas.

Technology innovators probably took on the challenges of integrating technology several years ago and were implementing technology concepts and skills with their students before the program of studies was even developed. We have several coordinating teachers of technology and a few teachers and administrators throughout the system who could fall into this category.

Early Adopters
Early Adopters make up the next 13.5% of the population. They tend to be a more integrated part of the local system than the innovators. Friendships are often made locally and they are highly influential in developing similar opinions amongst their colleagues. They serve as a role model for their friends and colleagues since they are well respected by their peers. They are the embodiment of successful, discrete users of new ideas. They decrease uncertainty about a new idea by adopting it, and then convey subjective evaluation of the innovation to their peers through interpersonal networks. Early adopters are the most influential group because others respect their opinions about new innovations. This is the group most often targeted as change leaders.

Some examples of the early adaptors in our district might included the teachers who signed up for the summer computer workshops or a series of evening and weekend inservices over the past 3 years. It would also include some CTS teachers, the TLC 2learn teacher leaders and all of the teachers who participated in OnTo the Net curriculum development projects: http://www.cssd.ab.ca/tech/otn/

The Early Majority
The Early Majority makes up the next 34% of the population and they usually adopt new ideas just before the average members of the group. They interact frequently with their peers, and although they exercise less influence with peers they do provide interconnectedness in the system's interpersonal networks. Members of the early majority take their time adopting new ideas. They follow with deliberate willingness in adopting innovations, but do not generally consider themselves agents of change.

In our district, the early majority would probably include the designated teachers who attended the District technology inservices and cascaded the information back to their school staffs, the teachers who participated in the technology integration inservices over the last 2 years and those who are currently participating in the AISI technology inservices.

The Late Majority
The Late Majority represents the next 34 percent of the population to adopt new ideas. They are likely to adopt changes just after the average member of a S) stem. They are likely to respond to increasing network pressures from peers, but they approach innovations with a skeptical and cautious air. The late majority does not adopt change until most others in their system have done so because they require the pressure of peers for motivation. Most of the uncertainty about a new idea must be removed before the late majority feels that it is safe to make a change.

These teachers may be beginning to employ technology for personal reasons. They may even take their students down to the computer lab for their designated period but probably haven't yet understood pedagogically sound methodologies for using technology. They are probably still using or looking for the "right" software and may be satisfied with "edutainment" software that keeps the students entertained and busy but not necessarily productive. They may be overly preoccupied with teaching students to type or to learn word processing skills and haven't yet realized that it is not just learning about the tools...It is about using the tools to locate, analyze, manage and interpret information. Activities are probably still teacher directed because the use of technology is not yet being built into the process of doing a research project. Some of these teachers even take students to search the Internet but it is not necessarily clear to students why they are doing it and what to do with the site when they find it.

The thing that makes these teacher late majority is that they may have a poor understanding of the intent of the ICT program of studies. While they may have agreed to use computers with their students they are teaching in traditional ways and have not begun to use technology in a way that is particularly useful for implementing the technology outcomes.

Resisters
The Resisters make up the last 16% of the population to adopt innovative changes. They influence few opinions and are often somewhat isolated. They usually make decisions based on what has been done previously and are suspicious of both innovations and change agents. Resisters often see themselves as having limited resources and they must be certain that a new idea will not fail before they can adopt it.

These are the teachers who have taken the stand that they will continue to put off implementing the ICT program of studies until next year or later, when specific conditions change. They have all kinds of reasons for not starting yet. They can't start until they get a pod of computer in their classroom or they can't start until they get unlimited access to the computer labs, or until someone teaches them how to use the tools or until someone buys them the magic software that will do the job for them. They just have too many other pressures on their plate to take on anything else. They don't realize that this is not about doing more it is about doing it differently.

For resisters these are real barriers. They don't see them as challenges or opportunities for self-growth, just as reasons why they really cannot do anything about it. Unfortunately, the resisters may have convinced themselves that they still have 2 years before we are accountable for implemented this program of studies, but this is just not so! The implementation period began in September 2001. Within the next 2 years all students should be able to demonstrate all of the learner outcomes for their division within the context of every other school subject. It can be done but we cannot put it off for later. If we haven't already done so we need to start immediately.

Everett Rogers' work suggests that change becomes self-sustaining when about 15 or 20 percent of a target population accepts it. Early adopters are the most influential agents for change because they have links to both the innovators and the more conservative groups. We might think that acceptance by the majority is an indicator that changes have been fully integrated, but the job isn't done until the resisters are won over.