Abstract:

Advances in information technology have drastically changed our world over the recent past. Keeping up with these changes is a challenge of immense of importance in all fields and especially important for those who are engaged in tertiary education. Education should be the first area to take advantage of developments in information technology. It has been observed, from multiple sources, that those involving in disseminating knowledge and skills in the tertiary education structure have been slower to adapt advances. This may happen due to multiple reasons. Initially there was an economic argument against the rapid adaptation of advances in information technology. This has become less of an issue with lower prices for many electronic devices which can be used in the learning process. Manufacturers have now also developed low cost models directed towards third world consumers. With the development of advanced open source software across multiple platforms and the recent increases in willingness of software development companies to allow for lower licensing prices in the underdeveloped countries, the availability and access to software has also improved significantly in such countries. However all these developments have had little impact on tertiary level education in the developing world and this lack of use of technology is preventing learners from developing critical skills required to handle integration of advances in information technology in their professional lives. The question then comes as to what can bring about the updating of the learning process and players involved. This might be extended to trying to understand what basic mechanism can be set up to automate and sustain innovation in learning rather than doing it on the basis of periodic reviews. The study of human social behavior dictates that motivation is a key ingredient for sustainability. In this study we look at the role of motivation in adaptation of advances in information technology in various aspects of tertiary education. We employed multiple models in class room settings at a premier university in Bangladesh to assess the impact of motivation in introducing innovations and adapting technology in teaching and learning at the undergraduate level at a university. We studied how different forms of motivation or the lack thereof influences the teaching-learning methodology applied.

Keywords:

Higher Education, innovation, motivation, information technology.