As a student who is double majoring in business administration and information systems, Fatema Akbar is interested in learning why people adopt some technologies but not others. In fact, her senior research project is examining the factors that influence people’s acceptance and use of new technologies in an educational environment – specifically in Qatar.
After participating in WISE, the World Innovation Summit for Education, this year, Fatema was invited to give a student keynote speech at the Ellucian Live conference in Abu Dhabi. Ellucian, a company that provides software to higher education institutions worldwide, hosts a regional event each year to discuss trends and challenges in education and technology. The theme of the conference was the use of technologies to create dynamic learning communities.
Fatema shared three stories with an audience of 500+ educators and technology professionals from across the Middle East: The first was her experience as a Carnegie Mellon student and how technology is used by students and professors to create dynamic learning environments. The second, story from WISE, was an example of a technology that was introduced in a learning environment but did not generate any results. Tying her first two stories together, Fatema’s third story was about her senior thesis and factors influencing user acceptance and use of technology. She concluded by encouraging decision-makers to be mindful of the user when they are introducing new technologies.
“Listen to the users, as a student myself, I ask you to listen to the learners before, during and after introducing technology to ensure delivering an effective learning experience successfully harnessing technology.” she said.
