‘There’s a pandemic coming, get yourselves some tablets’: Lessons from the pandemic on a community of practice approach to learning technology diffusion

Abstract

A well-planned program for disseminating good practice in teaching with tablet computers within a large science, health and engineering faculty of an Australian university fortuitously came to fruition just in time for the switch to emergency remote teaching triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. For teachers in disciplines which rely on symbolic representation systems and hand-sketched diagrams, the tablets proved indispensable in overcoming the challenges of teaching under pandemic conditions. Our dissemination strategy was based on an initial phase of voluntary adoption supported by a well-resourced, academic-led community of practice, alongside the establishment of a library of some 80 devices. Using analyses of loan records, a survey of tablet borrowers, and in-depth interviews, we investigate the diffusion pathways of the decision to adopt, as well as tablet teaching know-how. We draw the preliminary conclusion that our community of practice approach to dissemination has wider applicability beyond our pandemic experience.