Diffusion of innovations

About: Diffusion of innovations is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2139 publications have been published within this topic receiving 191397 citations. The topic is also known as: diffusion of innovation & diffusion of innovations theory.

Strategies for the Diffusion of Innovations on Social Networks

Abstract: We investigate the spread of innovations on a social network. The network consists of agents that are exposed to the introduction of a new product. Consumers decide whether or not to buy the product based on their own preferences and the decisions of their neighbors in the social network. We use and extend concepts from the literature on epidemics and herd behavior to study this problem. The central question of this paper is whether firms can learn about the network structure and consumer characteristics when only limited information is available, and use this information to evolve a successful directed-advertising strategy. In order to do so, we extend existing models to allow for heterogeneous agents and both positive and negative externalities. The firm can learn a directed-advertising strategy that takes into account both the topology of the social consumer network and the characteristics of the consumer. Such directed-advertising strategies outperform random advertising.

The Mutual Shaping of Technology and Society in Videotex Newspapers: Beyond the Diffusion and Social Shaping Perspectives

Abstract: This article argues that a mutual shaping lens enables a more encompassing account of the joint processes of technological and social change in new media than the diffusion of innovations and social shaping of technology perspectives. Drawing from recent work in sociology and history of technology, organization studies, social informatics, and computer-supported cooperative work, this article suggests that the shaping and diffusion of media artifacts are so intimately tied that they should be seen as the two sides of the same innovation coin. Using examples from the history of videotex newspapers in the United States, the analysis shows that actors simultaneously pursued interdependent technological and social transformations, that this was an ongoing process in which partial outcomes in the technological domain influenced social events at a later phase—and vice versa—and that such process was influenced by historical developments.

The Use of Geographic Information Systems in Local Government

Abstract: Countless land-related decisions are made by local units of government. Municipal governments and local offices of state and federal agencies deal with real property, development, infrastructure, and so forth. Many other records such as health and crime data are referenced by geographic location. Individual decisions of local units of government typically have a limited scope and impact. However, as a whole, they shape the way land is used and the built environment is managed. Geographic information systems (GIS) have tremendous potential at this level, both in allowing decision making to be more objective and in elucidating the cumulative effect of incremental decisions. It is also the level of government with a wide range of experience and success with GIS. Local agencies seemingly have the most difficult time using analytic and decision-support aspects of the technologies. Because great potential and great problems exist, this article is focused on GIS at the local level. GISs are now commonly accepted tools in public administration. GIS literature includes description of many kinds of successful applications; missing are anecdotes about orphaned technologies, alienated users, withdrawn funding, and other incidents that undoubtedly occur. To account for performance promised by purveyors of the technology, we need to ask "does the technologies. provide better information?" - faster, cheaper, more reliable, more precise, more available, and more understandable? It is critical to note that the question is "does," not "can." The question concerns its actual uses - not its potential. Successful use of GIS depends on technical choices and on the ability, capacity, and willingness of an organization to absorb and use new forms and quantities of information. Organizational and institutional factors may be a greater barrier to successful use of GIS than technical constraints (e.g., Dueker, 1987; Chrisman, 1987; Innes and Simpson, 1993). To make this innovation a useful component of decision-making processes, we should understand the technical, organizational, and institutional impediments to successful GIS use. In this article, I review GIS adoption and use in local government and discuss why successful use has come slowly in many jurisdictions. My observations are derived primarily from GIS implementation in Wisconsin, where local agencies participate in the Wisconsin Land Information Program (Kuhlman, 1993). This program has provided incentives and funding for land records modernization since 1990. This has accelerated GIS implementation and thus provided an opportunity to study factors influencing technology diffusion (Ventura et al., 1993). In the terms of Rogers' (1983) paradigm for diffusion of innovations, Wisconsin local agencies are typically in adoption or implementation phases, while counterparts around the country are in awareness and understanding phases - just learning about GIS. Additional evidence comes from "participant observer" activities, primarily assistance in the design and implementation of geographic information systems with many kinds of agencies. This has made it possible to probe deeply into organizations, to become familiar with personal traits, attend staff meetings, and so forth, and not just read final reports, attend public meetings, or accept the word of interviewees. Adoption and Use of GIS in Local Agencies To answer questions about the use of GIS, we must distinguish adoption from the many kinds of uses for which the technology is suited. Adoption, at least of hardware and software components of a GIS, is readily observed. GIS vendors' reports indicate that adoption is proceeding at a rapid pace. This is supported by studies of adoption as detailed below. Because the applications of GIS and related technologies are so diverse, it is not possible to assume from adoption that the technology is being used for decision making. In most cases, initial applications of GIS are within the realm of mapping and inventory. …

New Insights on Technology Adoption in Schools

Abstract: WE KNOW THAT THE INTERNET AFFECTS STUDENT LEARNING, BUT THE research about how teachers adopt technology and telecommunications and use it to enrich teaching and learning is still ongoing. We have found that Hall and Hord's Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) (1987) and Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations (1995) framework need extension in order to describe the systemic process in which technological, individual, organizational and pedagogical factors interact throughout the life span of an instructional technology program. An Integrated Technology Adoption and Diffusion Model Through our evaluations of several educational technology initiatives, especially the Boulder Valley Internet Project (Sherry, Lawyer-Brook and Black 1997; Sherry 1997), we found that teachers generally go through four distinct stages as they develop expertise with the Internet and the World Wide Web. Our Integrated Technology Adoption and Diffusion Model (Sherry 1998; Sherry 1999) describes a learning and adoption trajectory. In other words, a cyclic process in which teachers evolve from learners (teacher-trainees) to adopters of educational technology, to co-learners/co-explorers with their students in the classroom and, finally, to a reaffirmation/rejection decision. It is at this final stage that teachers decide whether the use of telecommunications to enhance teaching and learning is working for them. Is the use of telecommunications contributing to their self-efficacy as teachers? Is it compatible with their personal vision of learning, and worth the time and effort that they have put into mastering a new set of skills? Figure 1 depicts our "new model" of the learning/adoption trajectory. In this research-based model, the "reaffirmers" go on to build capacity within their school and among their fellow teachers. They assist their colleagues with troubleshooting equipment, give in-service sessions at their schools, serve on technology planning committees, and become the new round of peer trainers and change agents for their colleagues. If they move to another school, they continue operating at this level, thereby adding a portability dimension to their skills. [Figure 1 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] At each of these four stages, there are professional development strategies that work. For example, training may be more appropriate once an "advertising campaign" that informs teachers, parents and administrators about student successes and promising educational practices using technology in the classroom is in place. Learning communities can also be more easily formed at later stages. Further Evolution of the Technology Adoption Model Based on three years of evaluation of The WEB Project (http://www.webproject.org), a Technology Innovation Challenge Grant in Vermont, we found that the learning/adoption trajectory model was validated (Sherry, L., Billig, S. and Perry, S. 1999). Data for the 1998-99 academic year for The WEB Project were gathered from numerous sources. These include interviews, focus groups, classroom observation, surveys of students, teachers, and administrators, threaded discussions, student projects posted on The WEB Exchange Web site, and many more. A crosscase analysis was performed between participating sites to identify general trends, and data were analyzed to ascertain the project's early impact on student performance. The WEB Project stresses using online conversation to engage in dialogue about works of literature and current events, as well as for improving student products and performances in the arts and humanities. Along with the student/teacher forums, there are a number of forums that connect participating teachers, mentors, resident artists, musicians and other experts in a community of learners. Through these online conversations, teachers share ideas, common interests and concerns, and strategies for solving complex problems of practice. …