IT Leadership and Cloud Computing Adoption in Western Canadian K-12 School Districts
Date
2018-07-18
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Abstract
Cloud computing IT infrastructure continues to grow in prevalence globally and across industries. This research sought to explore the extent of cloud computing adoption in Western Canadian K-12 districts, and to better understand the factors that influence its adoption (or nonadoption) within an educational context. This research answers the questions of how IT infrastructure decisions are made in K-12 districts, what is the IT infrastructure within these districts, and what are the influences/priorities that shape this infrastructure. The Frambach and Schillewaert (2002) conceptual framework for organizational innovation adoption was central to this research, identifying both the influences/priorities that affect districts’ adoption of cloud computing, as well as districts’ stages of adoption. This case study followed a data transformation model mixed-methods triangulation design, employing semistructured interviews, document analysis, and statistical correlation analysis. A finding of this study was that IT infrastructure decisions were most often made by leaders in either the instructional or financial branch of the district’s superintendent’s office, though who was responsible for IT decisions produced negligible differences concerning the IT infrastructure used. A major finding of this study is that cloud computing is ubiquitous in large Western Canadian K-12 school districts. In this study of all 75 districts in British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, with 5,000 students or more, 100% of districts used cloud computing for at least one domain of their IT infrastructure. Non-cloud computing IT infrastructure was rare, and, when found, was typically used to complement cloud computing. The province in which a district was located had the greatest influence on its IT infrastructure. This was due to the influence of each province’s unique legislation. Additional factors that influenced districts’ IT infrastructure were a district’s size and the other types of IT infrastructure used within that district. A recommendation of this study is that K-12 districts in Western Canada, and around the world, continue to shift their IT infrastructure towards cloud computing.
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Keywords
Cloud Computing, IT infrastructure, Educational Technology, educational leadership, K-12 education, organizational innovation adoption
Citation
Holowka, P. (2018). IT Leadership and Cloud Computing Adoption in Western Canadian K-12 School Districts (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/32649