"A Chimera of Sorts": Rethinking Educational Technology Grant Programs, Courseware Innovation, and the Language of Educational Change

Autor/in	Wolff, William I.
Titel	"A Chimera of Sorts": Rethinking Educational Technology Grant Programs, Courseware Innovation, and the Language of Educational Change
Quelle	In: Computers & Education, 51 (2008) 3, S.1184-1197 (14 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0360-1315
DOI	10.1016/j.compedu.2007.11.005
Schlagwörter	Research Universities; Innovation; Courseware; Educational Change; Educational Technology; Grants; Faculty + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Forschungseinrichtung; Lernsoftware; Bildungsreform; Unterrichtsmedien; Grant; Finanzielle Beihilfe; Academic Staff; Lehrkörper
Abstract	How do we know when an educational organization, process, or courseware tool is "innovative"? How do we define the processes that encourage change or the ways in which faculty "develop" new courseware "innovations"? The terms "innovation", "change", and "development" have been overused in so many contexts that they now seem to have lost their meanings. A review of the literature on innovation and educational change offered no agreed up definitions or models. Prior studies that have considered innovations in educational technology have focused on the innovations themselves or the potential barriers to faculty adoptions of externally developed innovations. In this study of an educational technology services program that provides competitive grants for faculty-developed technology courseware projects at a large state research university, I shifted the focus to consider: what current and future higher education faculty consider to be an innovative courseware project, and how they conceive of processes for developing such innovations. Results suggested that when it is not reduced to a rhetorical device in a marketing campaign or department instructional technology vision plan, "innovation" that is defined locally by a community of practice can effectively transform teaching, learning, and the organizations that support these activities. (Contains 7 tables.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10