DISCUSSION

Because new educational technologies are not always easy to learn and master, an attitude of willingness may be especially important to foster as technology is introduced. Some individuals will come to new technological experiences with pre-existing favorable attitudes. Clearly, though, educators and trainers will need to stimulate an attitude of willingness along with the specific guidance they provide. The overall willingness measured in this study appears to rest primarily on the question of whether an individual sees practical benefits to the new technology. Individuals appear to think of the costs and benefits of using technology in forming their attitudes. Given the effort involved in mastering new technology, this should not be a surprise. However, it is useful for trainers who have already climbed the learning curve to remember that some individuals may still need to be convinced of the practical benefits of new learning. Doubts about success or mastery form a second factor in overall willingness. Notice that the factor was not having high confidence of success, but having concerns or self-doubts. This suggests that becoming confident isn't the key issue. Rather it may be more important to focus on acknowledging anxieties or doubts. With new technology, self-doubt is a reasonable personal reaction. A person with self-doubts may even feel greater concern if trainers focus on boosting confidence or having a positive outlook. These findings suggest that the more appropriate course would be to normalize doubts or uncertainties, to validate and show support for the realistic personal concerns some individuals will have. The third aspect of overall willingness appears to be intrinsic personal motivational energies such as enjoyment, curiosity, and personal challenge. Personality differences will create pre-existing variations in these attitudes. But intrinsic motivation can be fostered in any person if the learning situation focuses on eliciting intrinsic factors. Given that many individuals in a university setting will come to new technology as a part of academic or work responsibilities, they may not be relying fully on intrinsic energies. Many will see the new learning as an external challenge, demand or requirement. Overall willingness to learn may be enhanced if educators focus on fun, curiosity, excitement and personal interests. High willingness to try new technology, in these findings, did not depend significantly on getting helpful training or receiving incentives. Willingness was only moderately related to provision of "bullet-proof" technology. It would appear that addressing some of the human concerns - seeing practical benefits, coping with self-doubts, and utilizing intrinsic motivation - would be worth more time and attention as we plan for and implement new experiences with educational technology. The scale described in this report may be useful as a pretest in a diagnostic fashion to help new learners assess their attitudes. The goal would not be to move everyone toward a higher level of willingness, but to help individuals discover where their resistance might lie. If an individual can see that his or her hesitations boil down to not seeing practical benefits or to self-doubt or to not relying on internal motivation, then these insights may suggest how to approach new educational technology in different ways.