GENDER AND USE OF INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES - A STUDY OF UNIVERSITY-FACULTY

Instructional technologies have the potential to help higher education faculty address increasing demands on their time and energy. This stu dy investigated technology use by faculty at medium-sized, public univ ersity in the midwestern United States. Because a number of studies ha ve shown gender differences in technology use, survey data were analyz ed along gender lines. Results showed that males rated their knowledge and experience with some innovative technologies higher than did fema les. For frequency of use, no significant differences were found, with the exception of video, where females indicated slightly more frequen t use. Both rated technologies as important to instruction. For factor s influencing technology use, females rated time to learn a technology , increased student learning, ease of use, training, and available inf ormation in discipline as more important than did males. Such incentiv es as release time, merit pay, contribution to promotion and tenure, m onetary rewards, and recognition by the university were rated more imp ortant by women, as were the barriers of lack of time and lack of cont ribution to professional advancement. These findings suggest that gend er differences in technology use by university faculty may exist and n eed to be addressed.