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From Chalk to Clicks - The impact of (rapid) technology adoption on employee emotions in the higher education sector

Apostolidis, Chrysostomos; Devine, Anthony; Jabbar, Abdul

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Authors

Anthony Devine

Abdul Jabbar



Abstract

Drawing on Appraisal Theory, this study explores the psychological impact of technology adoption during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic on UK Higher Education (HE) employees. Using sentiment analysis, we analyse approximately 9,000 tweets focusing on technology use in UK HE between March 2020 and February 2021, leading to the identification of significant changes in perceptions and feelings. Followingly, we undertake 52 in-depth online qualitative surveys (employing a laddering approach) from UK HE employees to better understand the emotional and psychological consequences of technology adoption. The results highlight four distinct phases based on the functional and emotional impact of technology: secure, scrutinise, streamline, and sustain. We observe that several distinct positive (e.g., empowerment and self-efficacy), and negative (e.g., isolation and stress) psychological consequences emerge in each phase, which are concomitant with the transition from an emergency/rapid to planned/proactive technology adoption and integration. This study offers a framework demonstrating the impact of technology adoption on employee emotions and how these emotions change during the transition from rapid to planned technology adoption. Thus, given the importance of emotions within organizations, the implications of our work offer valuable insights for organizations transitioning from emergency to planned technology adoption in the future.

Citation

Apostolidis, C., Devine, A., & Jabbar, A. (2022). From Chalk to Clicks - The impact of (rapid) technology adoption on employee emotions in the higher education sector. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 182, Article 121860. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2022.121860

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 3, 2022
Online Publication Date Jul 11, 2022
Publication Date 2022-09
Deposit Date Jul 4, 2022
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Technological Forecasting and Social Change
Print ISSN 0040-1625
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 182
Article Number 121860
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2022.121860
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1199967

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