ABS432 - Unblocking the tensions of innovation acceptance: Towards a mentoring model for CPD development

Studies into the management of e-learning adoption in Higher Education by participants in the change process is limited although there is a wide body of literature about e-learning technology uptake and user choice promoting improved learner outcomes. Most research studies to date report on the role of change agents within the change process but not the underlying issues of managing the process itself. This research uses activity theory to investigate implications of the management of technological change and the effects of institutional policy over innovative practice. It examines the management of tensions between institutional e-learning policies and effective pedagogical innovation. This paper reports on a case study to establish the role that mentors as change agents play during the process of technological innovation and to identify the optimal conditions in which innovation occurs. The combination of mentor knowledge and motivational factors drive the process by which the mentees take ownership of their development journeys. The findings show that innovation acceptance is achieved through the identity of shifting mentoring roles from the participants' perspective during the innovation change process. The results contribute to the conditions in which technological innovation from an end-user perspective is actively encouraged and supported to meet the challenges of managing change. A model is proposed to offer strategies to manage the challenges of the implementation of e-learning policies. Their application will result in quick gains in technological development for the end user and therefore better efficiencies for the institutional context to which it is applied.