This week I tried the The Diffusion Simulation Game which was created by the Department of Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University, Bloomington. The goal was to “get school teachers to adopt technology.” Here’s a brief overview of my experience:
- My experience playing the game.
- I’ll admit, I was a little skeptical when the game first opened up. It seems really complicated and visually, the layout seemed not very engaging. However, as I started to understand the rules of the game, it was quite fun seeing who I could manipulate and get on my side.
- How many times did it take before I was happy with the number of teachers and staff I convinced to adopt a new technology?
- After my first try, I was unsuccessful in getting the school to fully adopt my technology. However, I did manage to get 11 staff members to become adopters, which according to the game is higher than the average player. I was happy with the results and felt I understood the purpose of the game.
- What strategies worked for me?
- After learning some of the general rules, I few strategies I noticed were effective were getting the principal on board, understanding and playing the social advantages of who teachers socialized with, and engaging well liked and respected teachers.
- Which ones did not? Did I learn anything from playing the game that will influence how I approach integrating technology in my own practice? In my Technology Integration Activity project?
- Initially, I thought it might be good to try and crack the “tough nuts” first, knowing that they would most likely fall into the late majority or laggards sections of the diffusion of innovation chart. In hindsight, I think it would have been a better use of my time to get more of the eager teachers on board to better convince the reluctant adopters.
- In the end, I feel this tool helped me better understand the progressions and time it takes to integrate new technology to a staff and gave me some ideas on where best to start and techniques to use.
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