EDT5300 Diffusion of Innovations in Educational Technology PDF

 How do I get these new ideas adopted? Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system. Social Innovation Adopters System Time Communication...

 How do I get these new ideas adopted? Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system. Social Innovation Adopters System Time Communication Channel Any idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption could be considered an innovation available for study. Innovation is a broad category, relative to the current knowledge of the analyzed unit. Adopters are the minimal unit of analysis. Adopters can be individuals, organizations (businesses, schools, hospitals, etc.), clusters within social networks, or countries. Communication channels allow the transfer of information from one unit to the other. Communication patterns or capabilities must be established between parties as a minimum for diffusion to occur. Example of communication channel: Media, visuals, advertisement on billboards, posters, radio, televisyen, word-of-mouth, etc. The passage of time is necessary for innovations to be adopted; they are rarely adopted instantaneously. Some innovation took years to be adopted by a unit of adopters. The social system is the combination of external influences (mass media, organizational or governmental mandates) and internal influences (strong and weak social relationships, distance from opinion leaders). There are many roles in a social system, and their combination represents the total influences on a potential adopter. To understand roles, let’s look at Individual Innovativeness.  Individual innovativeness is affected both by an individual’s characteristics and by the nature of the social system in which the individual is a member. Individual innovativeness vary among innovations/products. People differ greatly in their innovativeness to try new products. People can be classified into five adopter categories.  Early Early Innovators Adopters Majority Late Laggards Majority  Adopter Categories is related to 34% 34% Individual Innovativeness 13.5% 16% 2.5% Image Source: https://www.marketing91.com/adopter-categories/ Innovators are venturesome — they are risk-takers and like to explore new possibilities that come with the innovation that they adopt. They are opinion leaders in their communities and new product early but carefully. They will take some time to think, analyze and understand. But even though they like to investigate, since they care more about their reputation, they would eventually adopt the innovations in most cases. The Early majority are deliberated and not as impulsive as Innovators and Early Adopters. Although they are rarely leaders, they adopt new product before the average person. They mostly start to adopt when the product is in its growth phase. When purchasing the products, they frist check its utility and other practical benefits before confirming their decision. The Late majority are sceptical — they adopt an innovation only after a majority of people have tried it. Mostly when the product has grown enough in the market and is in the phase of the late growth or the maturity phase that is when the people of the late majority group consider buying that product and then trying it out. Laggards are traditional bound and conservative. They merely avoid taking a risk and prefer playing it safe. They are just not at all enthusiastic about embracing new ideas or products.They only tend to do so when they are being forced by their peers or in the cases in which everyone has already adapted to those products now it looks safe enough for them to adapt it too.  Relative Compatibility Advantage Complexity Observability Trialability Relative advantage is the degree to which an innovation is perceived as being better than the idea it supersedes. The degree of relative advantage is often expressed as economic profitability, as conveying social prestige, or in other ways. The nature of the innovation determines what specific type of relative advantage (economic, social, and the like) is important to adopters, although the characteristics of the potential adopters may also affect which specific subdimensions of relative advantage are most important. *The initial cost of an innovation may affect its rate of adoption Compatibility is the degree to which an innovation is perceived as consistent with the existing values, past experiences, and needs of potential adopters. An idea that is more compatible is less uncertain to the potential adopter and fits more closely with the individual’s situation. Such compatibility helps the individual give meaning to the new idea so that it is regarded as more familiar. An innovation can be compatible or incompatible with (1) sociocultural values and beliefs, (2) previously introduced ideas,and/or (3) client needs for the innovation. Complexity is the degree to which an innovation is perceived as relatively difficult to understand and use. Any new idea may be classified on the complexity-simplicity continuum. Some innovations are clear in their meaning to potential adopters while others are not. Complexity may not be as important as relative advantage or compatibility for many innovations, but for some new ideas complexity is a very important barrier to adoption. *Story of home computer adoption Trialability is the degree to which an innovation may be experimented with on a limited basis. New ideas that can be tried on the installment plan are generally adopted more rapidly than innovations that are not divisible. Some innovations are more difficult to divide for trial than are others. The personal trying out of an innovation is one way for an individual to give meaning to an innovation and to find out how it works under one’s own conditions. A personal trial can dispel uncertainty about a new idea. Observability is the degree to which the results of an innovation are visible to others. Some ideas are easily observed and communicated to other people, whereas other innovations are difficult to observe or to describe to others.  What can you hypothesize based on the innovation’s characteristics and innovation’s rate of adoption?  A change agent is an individual who influences clients’ innovation-decisions in a direction deemed desirable by a change agency. A change agent usually seeks to secure the adoption of new ideas, but he or she may also attempt to slow the diffusion process and prevent the adoption of certain innovations with undesirable effects. Many different occupations fit our definition of change agent: Example: teachers, consultants, public health workers, agricultural extension agents, development workers, and salespeople. provide a communication link between a resource system with some kind of expertise and a client system to facilitate the flow of innovations from a change agency to an audience of clients. For this type of communication to be effective: the innovations must be selected to match clients’ needs feedback from the client system must flow through the change agent to the change agency so that it appropriately adjusts its intervention programs to fit the changing needs to clients. feedback feedback adjust needs Client Change Change intervention System Agent Agency programs Have you been in a position as a change agent? How did you come into that position? What kind of challenges do change agents/you (from your personal experience) as a change agent face?  Social Information marginality overload Have you been in a position as a change agent? How did you come into that position? What was your role/was expected from you, when you were the change agent?  create an intent Develop a Establish information to change in need for change exchange relationship the client. achieve a Diagnose terminal Problems relationship stabilize adoption, Translate intent prevent discontinuance into actions To develop a need for change. A change agent often initially helps clients become aware of the need to alter their behavior. In order to initiate the innovation-decision process, the change agent points out new alternatives to existing problems, dramatizes the importance of these problems, and may assure clients that they are capable of confronting these problems. The change agent assesses clients’ needs at this stage and also may help to create needs. To establish an information exchange relationship. Once a need for change is created, a change agent must develop rapport with his or her clients. The change agent can enhance these relationships with clients by being perceived as credible, competent, and trustworthy, and by empathizing with the clients’ needs and problems. Clients often must accept the change agent before they will accept the innovations that he or she is promoting. The innovations are judged, in part, on the basis of how the change agent is perceived. To diagnose problems. The change agent is responsible for analyzing clients’ problems in order to determine why existing alternatives do not meet their needs. In arriving at such diagnostic conclusions, the change agent must view the situation emphatically from the clients’ perspective. To create an intent to change in the client. After a change agent explores various avenues of action that clients might take to achieve their goals, the change agent seeks to motivate their interests in the innovation. To translate an intent into action. A change agent seeks to influence clients’ behavior change in accordance with recommendations based on the clients’ needs. Interpersonal network influences from near peers are most important at the persuasion and decision stages in the innovation-decision process. The change agent usually can operate only indirectly here, by working with opinion leaders to activate near-peer networks. Or perhaps the change agent is a peer-educator/opinion leader and can thus encourage interpersonal communication from near peers. To stabilize adoption and prevent discontinuance. Change agents may effectively stabilize new behavior through reinforcing messages to clients who have adopted, thus helping to “freeze” the new behavior. This assistance is given when a client is at the implementation or confirmation stage in the innovation-decision process. To achieve a terminal relationship. The end goal for a change agent is to develop self-renewing behavior on the part of clients. The change agent should seek to put himself or herself out of business by developing the clients’ ability to be their own change agents. In other words, the change agent seeks to shift the clients from a position of reliance on the change agent to one of self-reliance.