Assessing the Adoption of Multimedia Technology in a College of Agriculture

To facilitate the use of instructional technology among faculty it is first necessary to understand the factors that encourage and inhibit its use. This paper describes the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) as a method to assess technology adoption in a college of agriculture. CBAM methods were administered to faculty participants in a mobile computer/multimedia project to assess their levels of adoption, and to make recommendations on how to proceed with similar efforts on future projects. Most concerns revolved around three issues: time requirements. recognition (or lack of recognition) on the part of administration for their efforts, and competence. Recommendations include: encouragement of collaboration and peer modeling, building on projects over time, visible rewards for teaching efforts, and making equipment easier to use.