A case study of change facilitators for technology-enhanced learning in relation to one university’s strategic intent

Korosec, Margaret D.

Abstract

Research into implementing change related to technology-enhanced learning in higher education includes researching the contributions and strategic action of individuals within an institution. Institutions may produce a structured strategic plan or a framework of strategic intent to accommodate changes in the higher education sector and opportunities for transforming learning and teaching through technology-enhanced learning tools and resources. Change facilitators are individuals in formal as well as informal positions within an institution who assume different levels of strategic action depending on their role and their self-identification as a facilitator of change. In this case study of a single university in England, the perceptions, concerns, and practices of academic and support staff who were functioning both formally and informally as facilitators of technology-related change are explored. A sequential, mixed-methods research approach was adopted. An online questionnaire measuring change facilitators’ levels of concern, including 35 pre-defined questions, categorical questions and open text questions, was disseminated to a purposive sample followed by semi-structured interviews with individuals who all identified themselves as facilitators of technology-related change. The discussion highlights strategic dissonance and sensemaking practices emerging from this study as well as the lack of patterns of concerns across change facilitator roles. Strategic dissonance was identified between the explicit strategic plan and the implicit, de facto, strategic intent as expressed through institutional structure in the Case Study University. Sensemaking practices served as a heuristic for addressing wicked problems of technology-enhanced learning transience. The recommendations of this research supports higher education institutions in establishing more effective links between innovative facilitators of technology-enhanced learning and structured support within a framework of strategic intent.

Citation

Korosec, M. D. (2018). A case study of change facilitators for technology-enhanced learning in relation to one university’s strategic intent. (Thesis). University of Hull. Retrieved from https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4255572

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Apr 5, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 5, 2023
• Keywords: Education
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4255572
• Additional Information: School of Education and Social Sciences, The University of Hull
• Award Date: Jan 1, 2018