This paper examines higher education faculty adoption of the Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT) through a case study of 710 online faculty teaching at thirtythree institutions in the State University of New York. This research is framed in the literature of technology adoption and diffusion of innovation theory. These conceptual approaches focus on the stages that individuals traverse in the process of adopting technologies and other innovations. Results presented here indicate high levels of awareness of MERLOT, but lower levels of use among the targeted population. Data analysis reveals heterogeneity in adopter profiles, indicating that the most committed online faculty were significantly more likely to adopt MERLOT. Results also suggest that the stageapproach common to technology adoption models is appropriate in understanding some aspects of the data (the design of professional development); however, a more powerful organizing principle may be contextual relevance of the innovation, which precedes and predetermine levels of concern and stages of adoption. Suggestions for faculty development and further research are included.
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