Date of Award

2007

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify those key factors which influence the diffusion of distance learning technologies into teaching and learning activities at minority serving institutions. The type of research employed in this research was both descriptive and correlational. The research utilized a web-based survey ( Faculty Survey of Instructional Technology ). The survey consisted of four sub-scales: General Information, Perceived Attributes, Perceived Barriers, and Adopter Categories/Technology Proficiency. The results showed that there was a relationship between participant characteristics and perceived attributes and barriers which may mitigate the adoption and use of distance learning technologies. All results are provisional and not generalizable to similar contexts due to the low response rate to the survey (12%). However, the results in conjunction with similar studies point to further actions to be taken to facilitate the diffusion process. Specifically, those recommendations include: improved training, the development of a community of learners, faculty mentoring programs, and acknowledging and recognizing the use of distance learning technologies in tenure and promotion activities.

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