Leading Digital Transformation in the Classroom
To explore the concepts of this week’s readings, we will go back in time – specifically, about 15 years ago, when I was in high school. In 2008-2010, I was in a historical high school – its original structure (which was still in use) was built in 1803 – the last modification of the building was in the 70’s – the building was old, but the desire to incorporate technology was not. The administrators were allowing and encouraging teachers to explore the implementation of technology, allowing each teacher to choose one and see how it improved or didn’t improve the learning experience. What I didn’t realize at the time was that one of the main factors behind this was that they were planning a new high school building and wanted to integrate educational technology into the classrooms. However, with the numerous options available, they didn’t want to waste funding on technology that wasn’t effective. This approach enabled teachers to identify the gaps they observed and address them with technology, then share with their peers how the technology was helping them.
Image created in Canva Pro
This model followed Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation Theory (2015), in which some teachers seized this opportunity, such as my Latin teacher, who began integrating Apple’s MacBook program and digital projection instead of the traditional acetate projection and notebooks. Other instructors pursued technology that enabled them to enhance their students’ experiences, but not all of them did initially; some waited and adopted what they liked, while others did not. This mix of innovators and early adopters enabled technological experimentation and validation, allowing administrators to identify which technologies became widely adopted and then work with architects to incorporate those ideas into the classrooms.
If we look at Kang’s conditions to lead digital transformation (2025) we see the three conditions in action:
1. Get Instructor Buy-In: Instead of forcing technology from above, the administration created a space in which teachers could experiment and see what worked for them; thus, the recommended technology came from peers and was more readily adopted.
2. Develop Technology Training: By supporting innovators and early adopters with the necessary resources to implement the technology fully, administrators created a team of in-house experts who could disseminate knowledge to the rest of the teachers, thereby reducing long-term third-party support costs.
3. Build the Right Infrastructure: The deteriorating school building may have allowed for this to all happen. Regardless, the administrators focused the new school on being built for technology integration and adaptation, ensuring that what was helpful at the time was not the only technology, but allowed for modularity to change with the technology.
This adept implementation of Venkatesh et al.’s (2003) Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) by leveraging the determinants of intention, specifically performance and effort expectancy, combined with the administrator’s ability to facilitate this process, enabled them to lead the faculty through a digital revolution and create a culture of digital adoption throughout the staff.
💭 Reflection Questions:
- Is this scenario an example of tech-savvy administrators, astute leadership practices, or a combination?
- How could this have been done differently?
- How could this process have gone wrong? (What’s a missing piece that they were lucky with)
References:
Kang, H. (2025, March 28). What Administrators Need to Take On. Adult Learning and Meaningful Technology Integration; New Prairie Press. https://kstatelibraries.pressbooks.pub/learningtechintegration/chapter/technology-integration-administrators-take-ons/
Rogers, E. M. (2015). Evolution: Diffusion of Innovations. In International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (Second Edition, Vol. 8, pp. 378–381). Elsevier Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.81064-8
Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B., & Davis, F. D. (2003). User Acceptance of Information Technology: Toward a Unified View. MIS Quarterly, 27(3), 425–478. https://doi.org/10.2307/30036540
Great blog post Chris! It’s been so fun to see posts from someone who is an experienced blogger and really understands how to lay out information in a way that is visibly easy to follow. The benefits to readability and cognitive load are obvious, and your writing style makes complex information feel personable and accessible. Your work is a great example we can all learn from.
ReplyDeleteFor your questions:
Is this scenario an example of tech-savvy administrators, astute leadership practices, or a combination?
I want to say both, plus an example of a positive, collaborative relationship between the teaching staff and administrators, and the impact that can have on the work and learning environment. Allowing staff to test out various technologies and assess for effectiveness is a great way to collect valuable data on what works while respecting the needs and expertise of each faculty member.
How could this have been done differently?
They could have handled all kinds of ways. They could have made everyone complete a survey of what technology they would like and force that choice on the entire school. They could have asked the students what they wanted and let them lead the search for more effective technology. They could have decided who gets to choose the technology via an all-staff hot dog eating contest. The options are basically limitless! The two important factors, in addition to the great explanation you laid out, are the observability of that new technology. As you mentioned, with Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations, and the observability aspect of technology innovation adoption, “It is proposed that this characteristic is based upon the logic that the easier it is to inspect the result of an innovation, the easier it is to adopt. (Stenberg & Nilsson, 2020, p.8)” With the faculty at your school having early adopters, both the more hesitant to change faculty and the administrators had the opportunity to see what worked and use that information to decide what to being to the new building. That is a great way to approach technological adoption in a learning environment.
How could this process have gone wrong? (What’s a missing piece that they were lucky with)
As with the hot dog eating contest, I think we can all let our brains run wild while answering this one. The faculty being willing to try out and adopt new technologies certainly seems like an important factor. As we’ve read this term, a lot can go into a person’s decision to adopt or reject new technology (Davis, 1986; Venkatesh et al., 2003; Venkatesh et al., 2016). I suspect widespread unwillingness to change could have really thrown a wrench in their plans.
Side note:
Are you aware that it looks like your home address is visible at the bottom of your blog? Pointing it out in case it was not intended.
References
Davis, F. D. (1986). A technology acceptance model for empirically testing new end-user information systems: theory and results [Dissertation]. In Mit.edu. https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/15192
Stenberg, L., & Nilsson, S. (2020). Factors influencing readiness of adopting AI A qualitative study of how the TOE framework applies to AI adoption in governmental authorities. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1460888/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B., & Davis, F. D. (2003). User Acceptance of Information technology: toward a Unified View. MIS Quarterly, 27(3), 425–478. https://doi.org/10.2307/30036540
Venkatesh, V., Thong, J., & Xu, X. (2016). Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology: A synthesis and the road ahead. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 17(5), 328–376. https://doi.org/10.17705/1jais.00428
Hey Vanessa!
DeleteThank you so much, that is high praise as I've really enjoyed your blog and I'm glad we got to spend every blog week together! It's been a pleasure learning from you!
I like your hot dog eating analogy - it's definitely true, the possibilities are limited by our imagination. One thing I want to highlight is that I am definitely applying a framework retroactively - I have no idea if they planned it all or if this was a circumstance of (as McGonagall would say) sheer, dumb luck!
Thanks for letting me know - it's there because I added the location and it chose a random DC address! I really appreciate you looking out for me on that!
It's been a blast of a term together, one week to go!
Chris