Toward Understanding Secondary Teachers’ Decisions to Adopt Geospatial Technologies: An Examination of Everett Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation Framework

Abstract

Twenty-first century teachers must embrace innovative practices and tools for relevant instruction that motivate and prepare students for the future. However, a gap between available technology, such as geospatial technologies, and those used for instructional technologies prevails. This study set out to discover if high school geography teachers’ decisions to use geospatial technologies conformed to Rogers’ (2003) Diffusion of Innovations stages of adoption of an innovation. Results from the investigation suggest two important findings. Patterns emerged suggesting a non-linear decision making process for GST adoption and that teachers may have a stronger awareness and use of technology than previously thought.