Tetreault, S. G. (2014). Personal-level factors and Google Docs use in Monmouth County middle schools (Publication No. 3613602) [Doctoral dissertation, Rutgers ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.

Abstract:

“Technology has become an essential part of the world, both in people’s personal and professional lives. Digital assessments such as those being implemented in New Jersey as part of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) will soon be instituted on a large scale; these require students to be able to utilize computer technology in order to be able to complete the assessment. Therefore, it is imperative that administrators know the most effective ways to successfully diffuse and have teachers implement technology across their classrooms. This study examined how the technological innovation Google Docs has diffused through schools/districts in Monmouth County, NJ and determined that there are significant relationships between the frequency and complexity of professional use of Google Docs and personal-professional characteristics of middle school classroom teachers.

Through the use of an online survey, quantitative data about teachers’ personal-professional characteristics and the frequency and complexity of respondents’ uses of Google Docs was collected from 35 out of the 53 schools in Monmouth County; roughly 45% of the surveyed population provided viable responses. Linear regression was used to determine which independent variables had a statistically significant correlation with the dependent variable “Google Docs Usage Score” (GDUS), a measure of the frequency and complexity of Google Docs use. The independent variables culled from the literature that were included for consideration were decision method (optional, collective, or authority); innovator type (innovator, early adopter, early majority, late majority, laggard); and the following personal characteristics: years of teaching experience; subject area taught; grade levels taught; number of types of technology used personally; number of types of technology used professionally; and technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) score (Mishra & Koehler, 2003).

Using quantitative methods, this study determined that there was a statistically significant association between the frequency and complexity of teachers’ use of Google Docs and the following variables: optional decision method; innovator, early adopter, and early majority innovator types; the subject areas Mathematics and Visual and/or Performing Arts; the number of types of technology used professionally; and TPACK score. These findings provide administrators with several concrete variables to consider when attempting to encourage the diffusion of a technological innovation such as Google Docs into a school. Additionally, when combined with research by Wisnicki (2014), it was found that personal factors have a larger impact on Google Docs implementation than do environmental factors. Limitations of the study might include sample size and the formulation of the Google Docs usage questions on the survey.

This study is significant because it builds on the diffusion work of Rogers (2003) and the Concerns-Based Adoption Model of Hall, Wallace, & Dosset (1973), and adds clarity to the literature on diffusion of educational technology within schools. This study also provides a new theoretical construct for examining the levels of use of Google Docs, which could potentially be expanded to include a measurement for other types of educational technology.”