Implementing ICT in Higher Education

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Implementing ICT in Higher Education

• From pilot to implementation, who are involved?
• dr. P.H.G Fisser
• University of Twente Curriculum Design
  Educational Innovation
• Presentation at ALT-C6 September 2006

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Implementing ICT in HE

• Implementation is a change process
• Change processes are dynamic
• Change processes are complex
• Change processes take several years
• Change processes cause concerns
• But someones got to do it!

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An audience-check..

• Who is or has been involved in the implementation
  of an innovation (with ICT) in education?
• What role(s) do/did you have?
• Initiator
• Decision maker
• Involved in a pilot
• Presenting results
• Advising management
• Supporting instructors

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In this presentation

• The process of implementation
• The actors involved
• The role of the academic middle management
• Combining implementation, actors and roles

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Yesterdays presentationby John Traxler

• theoretical perspectives in relation to the
  implementation of innovations
• Rogers diffusion of innovations
• Trowlers academics responding to change
• Halls concerns-based adoption model
• Bacsishs cost of networked learning
• Trigwells conceptions of teaching

Will it happen?
How will it happen?
How will it happen?
How will it happen?
Will it happen?
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The implementation process
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The implementation process

• Pre-initiation and initiation
• identify experiences with ICT
• goal implementation of experiences on a broader
  level
• Action producing a strategic plan
• Implementation
• the decisions made in the strategic plan are
  carried out
• formative evaluation results in fine-tuning
  implementation plan
• Institutionalisation
• the change becomes an integral part of the
  ordinary operating procedures of the department,
  faculty or university
• (Collis Moonen 2001)

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But what really happens?

• Stage of Concern Expression of Concern
• Awareness What is it? or.. I am not concerned
  about it.
• Informational I would like to know more about
  it.
• Personal How will using it affect me?
• Management I seem to be spending all my time
  getting materials ready.
• Consequence How is my use affecting learners?
  How can I refine it to have more impact?
• Collaboration How can I relate what I am doing to
  what others are doing?
• Refocusing I have some ideas about something
  that would work even better.
• Stages of concern and typical expressions of
  concern about an innovation (CBAM) (Hord,
  Rutherford, Huling-Austin, Hall, 1987)

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Concerns are real

• Identify where people are and answer the
  questions they are asking when they are asking
  them
• It will take at least three years for early
  concerns to be resolved and later ones to
  emerge...
• Everyone has concerns and acknowledging these
  concerns and addressing them is critical to
  progress in a change process
• But who is everyone?

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Who is involved?
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Who is involved?

• The list gives an indication about which actors
  could or should be considered during the
  implementation process
• This does not mean that all actors are always and
  all the time involved in the whole process

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Combining the findings

• A combination of
• the steps in the implementation process
  initiation, piloting, advising, decision-making,
  implementing, and integrating (based on Fullan
  (1998), Collis and Moonen (2001) and the figure
  with the simplified overview of the
  implementation process)
• the categories of actors
• the roles and activities of the actors
• Leads to a descriptive model

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Descriptive model
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Descriptive model
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The academic middle manager

• The academic middle management is involved in all
  the stages of the implementation process
• Leadership is an important role and activity in
  the implementation process
• It is assumed that these two are connected to
  each other

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The academic middle manager

• The middle manager plays a key role in the
  implementation process, this should be accounted
  for in the whole implementation process
• This can be done by not only assuming that the
  middle manager plays a crucial role, but by
  involving him or her in all steps of the process

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The academic middle manager

• So, now we know who is responsible!
• How many of you are academic middle managers??? ?
• The middle manager is the key factor
• This puts a great burden on this person
• He/she will be held responsible for all stages in
  the implementation process
• He/she may not be aware of this role...

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The academic middle manager

• He/she influences the innovation process in the
  organisation both up and down
• He/she has several strategic roles
• understanding the need for change (synthesizing)
• preparing for it (facilitating)
• stimulating it (championing)
• and ultimately, managing the process
  (implementing)(Kallenberg, 2004)

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The academic middle manager

• The middle manager does not have to do it on his
  own
• Use the descriptive model as
• a checklist to see if all actors involved are
  really involved in a specific sage of the
  implementation process
• a way to point out to the middle manager that he
  or she plays a crucial role
• a start to develop support tools for the middle
  manager to fulfil his or her role

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Support for the academic manager

• Projects in the Netherlands
• Train the manager ?
• Do projects with the manager ? -gt ?
• Support the manager ????

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Support the manager

• Find the learning technologist / educational
  support person
• Support him or her to support the academic manager

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Supporting the manager

• Briefcase with instruments, or actually.

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Supporting the manager

• A DVD with instruments, such as
• How to develop a vision on learning with
  technology
• Workshop to involve others
• List of stakeholders
• Strategies (Trojan horse Temptation)
• Case studies on video with comments from people
  involved

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The result?

• The dvd is still under development
• First reactions are positive
• Will it work in practice?
• We think so..
• New report at ALT-C 2007!

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Questions or comments?

• Petra Fisser
• p.h.g.fisser_at_utwente.nl
• http//users.gw.utwente.nl/fisser