Research has shown that TabletPCs enhance the student learning experience. The College of Engineering at Virginia Tech University launched the TabletPC initiative in 2006. All incoming freshman student are required to purchase a TabletPC for use in class. The TabletPC is used extensively by the faculty members in the freshman classes, but in-class usage reduces by a significant amount in the senior years. While there are some faculty members who use the TabletPC and all its features extensively in class, there are some who are not very comfortable with use of in-class technology. For convenience, we have classified the faculty members into three types of users; Phase 1 users are those who use simple tools, such as Microsoft PowerPoint without any inking, to teach in class. Phase 2 users are those who use the inking features of the TabletPC to teach in class. Finally, the Phase 3 users are those who used advanced software and features of the TabletPC to teach in class. For instance, faculty members who use DyKnow to teach in class will be classified as a Phase 3 user. In order to increase faculty usage, the College of Engineering has deployed various strategic alliances with internal and external organizations to the university. Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations theory has been used as a theoretical framework to maximize adoption of instructional technologies. According to Rogers, there are five attributes to be considered when it comes to adoption of technology. They are relative advantage, compatibility, trialability, observability, and complexity. Adoption of technology will be more likely if the complexity of the technology is reduced but relative advantage, compatibility, trialability, and observability are maximized. Figure 1 depicts the strategic alliances maintained to increase faculty/student adoption of TabletPCs, while using Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation theory as a theoretical framework.
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