Towards a cultural framework to understand teachers’ ICT adoption: a case study

Abstract

This study examines the impact of culture on teachers’ pedagogical adoption of ICT, in order to gain a deeper understanding of the current development of ICT implementation in China’s higher education. The data presented and discussed in this paper comes from a two-month case study conducted in a university in southern China. The findings indicate that several culturally-anchored factors play a significant role in how teachers perceive, perform and persist in ICT-supported teaching activities. The addressed teachers’ ICT-related beliefs and behaviours are further justified as the visible symptoms of a deeply rooted cultural impact, which eventually hindered the university’s efforts to change. The cultural barriers to ICT integration identified in this study calls for a reformulation of the institutional culture into one that fosters teachers’ ICT adoption and exploration of innovative pedagogies. This study also contributes to the current knowledge base by grounding a cultural framework that enables researchers and practitioners in other countries to diagnose culturally anchored characteristics that impede teachers’ adoption of technologies, so as to manage more efficient change.