Technology Fatigue of Faculty in Higher Education

Colleen Halupa ,Doris U Bolliger

doi:10.7176/jep/11-18-02

Abstract

The study investigated technology fatigue in instructors employed at three universities located in the United States. Instructors at three private institutions of higher learning located in two states were invited to complete an online survey that was developed by the researchers. Technology fatigue was operationalized as technology-use related stress (technostress) and frequent change in technology (change fatigue). A total of 171 valid responses were received from participants during a four-week period. Results show that they experienced moderate levels of technology fatigue. No statistically significant differences in responses were found based on the two types of learning environments (campus-based and online). Small differences were found based on the participants’ gender. Respondents offered a variety of factors that contributed and mitigated their technology fatigue. Results are discussed within the context of the literature. Keywords: Faculty, Technology utilization, Change fatigue, Technology stress DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-18-02 Publication date: June 30th 2020

Highlights

Technology is ubiquitous in many fields and has permeated higher education
Faculty members who were trained in their fields before the advent of learning management systems and social media sometimes find it difficult to change their pedagogical methods to include the technology that Generation Z desires because technology has always been present since their birth (Dimock, 2019)
4.1 Instructor Perceptions of Technology Fatigue Overall, results show that participating instructors were only moderately fatigued with technology

Summary

Introduction

Technology fatigue is becoming more prevalent in the developed countries of the world (Halupa, 2018). Faculty members who were trained in their fields before the advent of learning management systems and social media sometimes find it difficult to change their pedagogical methods to include the technology that Generation Z (those born between 1996 and 2015) desires because technology has always been present since their birth (Dimock, 2019). They never lived in a world without cell phones or the Internet. The convergence of the old (faculty) and the new (students who want technology) can result in technology fatigue in university faculty

Methods

Results

Conclusion