Modelling online innovation among IR and politics lecturers

This article discusses the use of collaborative online technology in the
teaching of international relations and politics. Using a case study from Australia, it finds low levels of online innovation in these discipline areas that correlate with broader examinations of technology use in higher education teaching. Themes of time poverty, technical competence, and lack of career reward are frequently cited as barriers to trying new approaches. The data indicate that at present the most common outcome of any aspiration for IR/politics staff considering innovation is that the effort required to incorporate collaborative online learning is not repaid. These findings are meaningful, since the current lack of innovation and the perceptions of staff regarding support for such approaches are at odds with the marketplace pressures staff and their institutions are under. Based upon the data collected and the wider literature on technology
adoption, this article proposes a “Technology-Assisted Teaching
Adoption Model” (TATAM) that attempts to encapsulate the innovation
judgements made by academic staff and the steadily diminishing
incentives they feel towards changing their online teaching methods.