Nuancing: Fidelity and Flexible Adaptivity in the Implementation of Technology-Rich Innovations

Volume 14 Issue 1 April - June 2017

Research Paper

Nuancing: Fidelity and Flexible Adaptivity in the Implementation of Technology-Rich Innovations

Michael K. Thomas*

Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois, Chicago, USA.

Thomas,M. K. (2017). Nuancing: Fidelity and Flexible Adaptivity in the Implementation of Technology-Rich Innovations. i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, 14(1), 20-34. https://doi.org/10.26634/jet.14.1.13584

Abstract

This manuscript reports on two studies on the implementation of a technology-rich innovation in public schools. This technology-rich innovation was an online quasi-video game environment that used 'through-the-window' virtual reality and a robust back story to situate learning activities in the virtual world for children. The first study examined the reasons why teachers chose to implement the innovation as well as the core challenges and supports necessary for the successful implementation of the innovation. This study used case study methodology and found that the innovation required a great degree of alignment between project goals and existing teacher needs and concerns. The second study re-examined data from the first study to explore how the innovation was actually implemented. The second study employed classic grounded theory methods for analysis and theory building. Nuancing theory emerged as the core category that arose as a result of the inductive grounded theory analysis procedures. This paper elaborates nuancing theory and addresses its possible applications to the problem of designing, developing, and implementing technologyrich innovations for situating learning activity in schools.