Leader support and the integration of innovative teaching–learning technologies: the mediating role of technological level of knowledge

Abstract

While there have been recent trends in investigating the role of leader support on technological integration, such research in educational settings is rare. Moreover, the attention paid towards investigating leadership support for the integration of technological changes in education has not led to the explicit specification of what support teachers would entail from their mid-level academic leaders regarding the current challenge of ITLTs-low uptake in developing countries. Therefore, the present study investigates the influence of leader support and integration of ITLTs among academicians of the selected Tanzanian universities, mediating the effect of the Technological Knowledge Level (TKL). A questionnaire was used as the main collection tool to collect data from 192 academic staff. The study used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to analyse the extent to which leader support influences the integration of ITLTs, mediated by the TKL when controlled for demographic factors such as age, gender, and ITLTs prior knowledge. The yielded results reveal that the integration of ITLTs among academics is positively influenced by leader support; the higher the support the academics receive from their leaders, the better the integration of ITLTs. Furthermore, the perceived leader support is also predictive of academicians’ technological knowledge level; however, no significant effect of technological knowledge level was found when mediating the two variables, indicating that leaders support strongly influenced the integration of ITLTs. This study, therefore, proves the inclusive findings and extends the research on the potential of mid-level academic leadership to bring about educational change in higher learning and thus, enhance the integration of ITLTs.