Faculty Development in Instructional Technology in the Context of Learning Styles and Institutional Barriers

This chapter describes the within-case analysis of ten faculty members who agreed to share their learning experience and struggles in learning instructional technology. The case focuses on the in-depth description of each participant stressing their unique personal approach and learning styles, describing the main steps experienced and resources utilized by the participants during the learning process. It also highlights one dominant learning characteristic of each participant, which is compared with the participant’s result in the Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire of North Carolina State University, with potential implications for academic administrators in promoting the use of instructional technology by faculty members of diverse profiles. The case also discusses the institutional barriers faced by faculty members while learning how to use instructional technology at a public university in the United States. Three institutional barriers were a major concern for the participants: time, rewards, and cost. One hundred percent of the participants agreed that providing more time—along with financial and academic rewards—is critical to supporting the learning and implementation of instructional technology.