| This thesis fulfills the requirements of a Doctor of Liberal Studies degree at Georgetown University. It advances our knowledge of the rationale and mechanisms surrounding the spread, adoption and abandonment of information and communication technologies in tertiary education institutions in the United States. This interdisciplinary thesis approaches the topic from four disciplines: law, communication, economic and technology studies. It also relies heavily on first-hand, experiential accounts of technology adoption initiatives at Georgetown University from 2000 to 2012.;U.S. colleges and universities spend considerable resources adopting information and communication technologies. Yet, why has United States tertiary education not adopted information technologies the better to fulfill its mission of preparing the next generation of knowledge workers, and of creating, disseminating and preserving knowledge? This thesis shows the constraints and enablers for this condition, which are rooted in legal, social, economic and technical factors. The thesis proposes an integrated model to improve the adoption of information technologies by higher education faculty, staff, students and administrators leveraging four drivers: legal and policy instruments, diffusion of innovation dynamics, economic incentives, and technical elements. The integrated model helps identify and resolve conflicts among factors and among actors when evaluating, deliberating and executing technology adoption initiatives. Using the model, colleges and universities can adopt technology better to be more efficient, to prepare students better and to spread more knowledge to more people, therefore benefitting society. The model can facilitate the adoption of technologies that enable distance learning, including MOOCS or Massive Online Open Courses. |
