Approaches to Improve Teachers’ Use of Groupware

Abstract

Teachers are confronted with groupware for various reasons. However, the teachers’ acceptance of many systems is afflicted. This paper identifies reasons for the refusal and presents approaches to improve the usage of groupware for teachers. On the basis of an empirical survey on an inter-school groupware, we discover shortcomings of groupware and corresponding general conditions. In this context we focus on the offered utility and the embedding of groupware in schools. The results of the study show that the motivation of teachers to employ groupware can be improved by implementing specific organizational terms of use and by focussing the utility on document management. Nevertheless, adjustments in both mentioned directions have to be implemented with caution, since they exhibit critical points as well.

Keywords

• Inter-School Groupware
• Empirical Survey
• Utility
• Organizational Terms of Use