Publication Date
2026
Document Type
Dissertation/Thesis
First Advisor
Rhode, Jason
Degree Name
Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)
Legacy Department
Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment (ETRA)
Abstract
Technology has become deeply embedded within teaching and learning practices in higher education, where faculty serve as a critical link between technology availability and adoption. While innovations and initial adoptions still occur, such as the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence and the ongoing growth of extended reality, it has also become common for technology adoptions to involve a transition to a new version or vendor for an existing tool, such as with learning management system migrations. The adoption of such replacement technologies has not been well-researched, particularly how and why faculty choose to adopt a replacement technology. This qualitative, comparative case study explored the decision-making process for higher education faculty at institutions that were transitioning from the Blackboard Original Course View to the Blackboard Ultra Course View to determine how those decisions aligned with the constructs of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and whether the factors that impacted the timing of their decision to adopt Blackboard Ultra differed across the adopter categories from Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT).
Through interviews with 28 higher education faculty members at 4 institutions, this study confirmed that adoption decisions somewhat aligned with the constructs of UTAUT, with notable deviations including conflation of Performance Expectancy and Effort Expectancy, emphasis on practicalities of workload and professional responsibilities, and consideration for the impact on student performance and effort. In addition, distinct patterns of decision-making for each of the IDT adopter categories were evident. The results can provide guidance to educational developers, instructional technologists, and institutional leaders to inform implementation of replacement technology implementation by providing differentiated and targeted support for faculty members throughout the adoption timeline.
Recommended Citation
Richter, Stephanie Layne, "Replacement Technology Adoption by Higher Education Faculty: A Qualitative Case Study of the Innovation Diffusion Theory and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology Frameworks" (2026). Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations. 8237.
https://huskiecommons.lib.niu.edu/allgraduate-thesesdissertations/8237
Extent
159 pages
Language
en
Publisher
Northern Illinois University
Rights Statement
In Copyright
Rights Statement 2
NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.
Media Type
Text
