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Journal of Education for Business

ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20

Technology, Preprocessing, and Resistance—A
Comparative Case Study of Intensive Classroom
Teaching
Marco Adria & Teresa Rose
To cite this article: Marco Adria & Teresa Rose (2004) Technology, Preprocessing, and
Resistance—A Comparative Case Study of Intensive Classroom Teaching, Journal of Education
for Business, 80:1, 53-60, DOI: 10.3200/JOEB.80.1.53-60
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JOEB.80.1.53-60

Published online: 07 Aug 2010.

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Technology, Preprocessing,
and Resistance—
A Comparative Case Study of
Intensive Classroom Teaching
MARCO ADRIA
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

I

ntensive classroom delivery is the
offering of a course within a real
period of time that is significantly
smaller than the conventional period of
time. For example, an intensive classroom course may be offered over 5 or 6
full days of instruction instead of in the
more conventional 3 hours of instruction per week over 12 weeks. The number of hours spent in instruction may be
the same in the two delivery options, but
the scheduling is different. The intensive classroom delivery of graduatelevel university courses in business is a
significant development because it is
associated with the application of information and communications technologies (ICTs). ICTs provide the organizational capacities required to alter the
conventional university schedule of
studies. Intensive classroom delivery,
therefore, leads to questions about how
and why ICTs are used in higher education, along with the question of what
role faculty members will have in planning for and using these technologies.
In this article, we present two case
studies of business-related courses that

were taught by the authors in 2001
through intensive classroom delivery at
two universities. Before the presentation of the cases, we explore the context
of institutional change in higher education, especially how that change is
enabled and influenced by ICTs. This

TERESA ROSE
InnerWorks Consulting
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

ABSTRACT. In this article, the
authors report on two international case
studies that used comparable applications of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and were
undertaken in comparable academic
areas and levels of study. In the two
cases, the authors explored faculty
resistance to the use of ICTs for teaching and learning in higher education.
The two cases differed in institutional
context and some student characteristics. The cases were significantly similar in the codification of teaching and
learning activities using ICTs. This

codification is associated with an occasion for transforming the role of the
instructor. The authors present potentials and pitfalls of this teaching mode.

context is characterized in part by the
assumption that more intensive planning—or, in the language of information systems, preprocessing—can be
used to stimulate institutional innovation and change in higher education.
ICT use in this sense is a consequence
of political change. The institutional
context is characterized also by the
structuring influence of technology,
through which technology is an
antecedent, or even a cause, of change.
The use of ICTs in this sense creates
new opportunities in teaching and
learning and leads to different ways of
thinking about the instructor’s role.
We use the two cases as an heuristic
to explore the meaning of alternative

course development and delivery in

higher education. We report on the main
characteristics of the respective courses
that we taught and investigate how
intensive classroom delivery both differed from and resembled our previous
teaching experiences. Our objective was
to establish the basis for further inquiry
into the significant question of how
relationships among educational markets, institutions of higher education,
and professional autonomy are influenced mutually by the introduction of
ICTs in the graduate-level university
classroom. We also considered the
potentials and pitfalls of intensive classroom delivery.
ICTs as Both Effect and Cause of
Change in Higher Education
The use of ICTs to support teaching
and learning in higher education has
expanded in range and frequency over the
past decade (Albert & Thomes, 2000;
Annand, 1999; Jennings, 1995). ICTs are
now commonly used in universities and

colleges to support many activities associated with teaching and learning. These
activities include planning and development of courses and curricula (Clouse &
Nelson, 1999–2000), communication
between instructors and administrators
(Black, 2000), student-to-student and student-to-instructor interactions (Bullen,
September/October 2004

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1998; Paj & Wallace, 2001), support services to students (Potter, 1997), and management of the educational process
(Adria & Woudstra, 2001; Ingram,
1999–2000). ICTs are of interest to universities in part because of their ascribed
capacity to stimulate sociotechnical
change. We can consider the following
ways in which ICTs function as a
response to political change.
Information and communications
technologies form part of a response by

universities to political changes, but
they are also a structuring influence on
institutions of higher education. New
network forms of organization emerge
as outcomes of the use of ICTs. These
new organizational forms, in turn, tend
to accelerate the structuring influence of
ICTs. Network organizations can be virtual extensions of the organization using
technology to connect and work with
external individuals and entities to perform specific tasks. Examples of network organizations in higher education
cited by Woudstra and Adria (2003)
include consortia (Connecticut Distance
Learning Consortium), arrangements
between public universities and private
companies (Global University Alliance),
virtual networks (Universitas 21), and
core-rings (Open University’s Professional Development Europe).
Postgraduate programs of study have
provided distinct examples of how
teaching and learning systems in universities may be redesigned comprehensively. In many cases, colleges and universities are designing new programs

for mature students who are already in
the workplace and who are seeking a
broader knowledge of their professional
areas as well as updated management
and communication skills. As Farrington (1999, p. 38) noted,
[s]ome of the most promising new applications of information technology are in
programs of postgraduate education
designed to provide lifelong learning for
mature students. Digital media have liberated traditional educational institutions
from the constraints of their real estate.

The intensive classroom as a teaching
and learning model for graduates in universities combines the application of
ICTs with a network form of organization. The intensive classroom is thus
one of the outcomes of the expanding
54

Journal of Education for Business

introduction of ICTs into college and

university classrooms.
Some observers have argued that
there is a need for less emphasis on
information transfer to passive students
and more emphasis on teaching methods that allow students to construct their
own knowledge and skills. Mundell and
Pennarola (1999), for example, urged
the use of extensive group work that
uses technology as a group facilitator
for achieving higher-level learning.
Lengwick-Hall and Sanders (1997)
argued that the increasing diversity of
students has been one of the major challenges facing universities. They show
that a wide range of individual learning
styles, cultural orientations, experiences, and interests must be met with a
similarly diverse range of learning
options if a higher quality of learning
and satisfaction is to be achieved. New
technologies provide more opportunities for matching diverse teaching methods to diverse student needs.
Barriers to the Application of

ICTs in Higher Education
Institutional Barriers
In spite of their increasing use, ICTs
are not fully a part of university teaching
and learning. Barriers to the application
of ICTs in such models as the intensive
classroom exist at the institutional and
political levels and at the level of the
individual faculty member. Institutions
rely heavily on extrinsic rewards, which
tend to be tied to research accomplishments (“Work of Faculty” 1994). Such
an emphasis makes teaching activities,
including those associated with alternative delivery, somewhat less attractive to
faculty members. Research brings prestige, new students, and financial
resources to the university. In her review
of the literature on faculty participation
in distance education in the United
States, Wolcott (2003) cited the following “institutionally embedded disincentives” with regard to the use of ICTs in
higher education: lack of rewards, lack
of administrative or technical support,

lack of training, lack of adequate compensation, and lack of clear commitment
to or policy on distance education.
Piotrowski and Vodanovich (2000)

suggested that certain faculty members
will have to lead in the use of technology.
Because incentives are weak, in this view
the decision to use Web-based teaching
rests largely on the shoulders of individual faculty members (Khan, 1997).
Faculty Barriers
Fearing agents of “soft control,” faculty members may resist the systematic
and widespread use of ICTs. Because
their professional identity is concerned in
part with autonomy and the exercise of
professional discretion, faculty members
may see ICTs as a potential or actual
threat. Wolcott (2003) discussed the following faculty perceptions and attitudes
that have contributed to resistance: fears
associated with the use of technology,
fear of being displaced, fear of losing
autonomy or control over the teaching
and learning process, and fears and
uncertainty regarding the tenure and promotion process and job security.
Thomas (2000) suggested that
although there are potentially significant benefits to using the Internet in
teaching and learning, there are numerous obstacles to realizing those benefits. A further concern of faculty members is research that shows no
significant differences between online
and classroom courses in terms of student participation, student interaction,
and exam performance. For example,
although interaction is easier in the
classroom, there are advantages that
support interaction through Internet
courses, such as reflection time,
reduced social presence, and idea
refinement (Arbaugh, 2000). Arbaugh
found a gender difference with regard
to Internet participation: Women had a
higher response rate in Internet courses.
On the basis of this evidence, it is difficult to argue that Internet courses are
“worse” than traditional classrooms.
On the other hand, some may question
why they should give up the classroom
when the online alternative seems to
offer a marginal improvement, if any.
Faculty members will tend to scrutinize innovation in the design and delivery of their courses as long as the online
mode is associated with issues that are a
potential threat to the autonomy of the
academic profession. New technologies

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require faculty members to abandon
many conventional practices and relationships and perhaps find new ways to
define themselves and what they do, and
this is difficult. Of concern to faculty
members is the fact that online courses
raise the issue of who owns the intellectual property residing in course materials (Giroux, 2002; Oravec, 2003).
Online courses are also commonly associated with temporary and part-time
work (Noble, 2001).
The issue of faculty resistance is an
important object of analysis in both the
tool and proxy theories of educational
technology. In the tool view, faculty
resistance is a kind of unwelcome variable that potentially can be eliminated
or mitigated by adjusting other variables, such as training, technical support, or instructional design learning
(Kennepohl, 2001; Ng, 2000; Orlikowski & Iacono, 2001; Robson, 2000). Furthermore, the use of technology for
teaching is, in this view, largely an
enhancement. ICTs are a means, among
others, of achieving the outcome of student and instructor satisfaction. As such,
technology is not likely to contribute to
substantive or enduring conflicts in values. Faculty resistance is problematic
from this perspective, but it is not considered to be symptomatic of larger
organizational or social conflicts. The
proxy view, on the other hand, sees
technology as part of a larger organizational and social web of substantive
conflicts (Boshier & Onn, 2000; Noble,
1995; Orlikowski & Iacono; Sumner,
2000). In this view, faculty resistance is
not likely to subside quickly and is
regarded as evidence of the essential
threat that technology poses to the live
world of human interaction and cooperation (Sumner).
Although the use of ICTs in teaching
and learning is accepted widely within
the limited environment of distance
education and open learning, it is not as
welcome in conventional university
teaching. In spite of efforts to encourage
integration of ICTs into the classroom,
and as a means of leveraging efforts to
initiate distance-education operations,
ICTs continue to be seen by conventional university faculty members as a kind
of interloper, and no more than a possible enhancement of the classroom.

The two cases in our study1 provide a
means of examining the source and consequences of the institutional and faculty
barriers to the effective use of intensive
graduate classrooms. Each instructor
(and author) reflected on the experience
of teaching using the intensive classroom
mode of delivery. The observations that
were recorded were informed by aggregated data from evaluation questionnaires completed by students after the
completion of the course.
Case Study 1: “Human
Communications,” Graduate
Communications Program,
Western Canadian University
Institutional and Political Context
This master’s program is offered
through both the classroom and online
modes of delivery. The program was
developed to provide new opportunities
for graduate-level study to more mature
students, especially those who already
are working full time in a professional
area. The program was established as an
innovation within the home university
and in the regional political system.
Government in the region supported
both the curriculum and the alternative
delivery methods. The curriculum of the
program is communications and technology, an interdisciplinary area that
tends to attract the interest of working
professionals such as public relations
practitioners, information technology
managers, and human-resource professionals. Of the 10 courses in the program, four must be taken in the classroom through intensive delivery, three
must be taken online, and three electives
can be taken in a mode chosen by the
student. Our first case involves a course
providing an introductory survey of
communications theory offered to 1styear students. For this course, students
were in class on 14 consecutive mornings or afternoons for 3 hours each day,
for a total of 42 hours of instruction.

sion of one of the major assignments 2
or 3 weeks after the conclusion of the
classroom component. All the course
syllabus information in the case was
posted on the Web site in the relevant
sections. Students were expected to
familiarize themselves with the expectations and rhythms of the course by reading the Web site thoroughly before they
arrived so they would be able to participate fully at the outset of classes. Students read as many of the assigned chapters in the text as possible beforehand.
After arriving for the intensive classroom sessions, students reported that
they had read the material for Week 1, as
directed. Also before arriving, they prepared their first assignment according to
the directions provided on the Web site.
This assignment was a 500-word narrative description of the communications
theory for which they had the most affinity. Some students also began greeting
one another before classes by posting
messages on the Web-site conference
area. This online dialogue was casual
and unstructured, but it meant that most
students had already made initial contact
with one another by the time they
arrived for their first class. During the 3
weeks of classes, a major theoretical
approach was covered each day. A lecture was followed by a presentation on
that day’s theory by a small group of students. Small-group and class discussion
activities were also part of each day.
Student Characteristics
There were 22 students in the class.
English was a first language, or a welldeveloped second language, for all students. A small number of students had
distance-education experience, but most
did not. None reported experience with
intensive delivery. Most students (63%)
were women. Most were 30 to 50 years
old (72%), and only 9% were under 30
years of age. Most students had a degree
in arts (34%), science (17%), or education (19%).

Use of ICTs

Observations

Each classroom course in the program includes a precourse activity along
with readings made available online.
Each course also allows for the submis-

For the visiting professor from Canada to Australia (the second author),
finalizing the objectives of the course
for posting on the course Web site was a
September/October 2004

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major task and was comparable in time
commitment and energy to teaching a
conventional course. For example,
reflecting on and revising the course
objectives from a previous offering of
the course to align it with intensive
delivery led to changes in readings and
other aspects of the course, all of which
had to be completed before the first
class. Although the classroom contact
time of 42 hours was comparable to the
39-hour contact time provided in a conventional classroom at the university,
the preparation required for the intensive classroom course was estimated to
be about double that required for a conventional classroom.
With the extensive planning carried
out, the reward for the instructor and the
students was a well-organized and wellreceived course. All 20 students in the
course completed an evaluation questionnaire. Of the 20 respondents, 11
“strongly agreed” and 9 “agreed” that
the “goals and objectives of the course
were clear.” A total of 18 “strongly
agreed,” and 2 “agreed” that they had
increased their “knowledge of the subject area.”
The classroom experience was
dynamic and energetic. Students came
prepared to discuss course-related
issues and to present their ideas to their
colleagues in discussion and through
assignment presentations. For example,
one pair of students made a presentation on the second day of classes. The
presentation required a significant
amount of reading and discussion for
preparation, but students were willing
and able to present early on in the
course because of the reading, study,
and orientation activities that had taken
place before the first day of classes.
For a graduate-level course, it was
not enough to gain knowledge and
receive information. A process of
enhancing students’ critical and analytical skills was expected. In spite of the
fact that the course was taught over a
relatively short period of time (3
weeks), 17 students “strongly agreed”
and 3 “agreed” that the course had challenged them “to think critically about
the issues.”
Students got to know one another
through the team-based presentations
and during class time. They took the
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Journal of Education for Business

opportunity of the relatively short period
of time that they had together to make
connections that would be extended to
the online activities later in their program. The socializing aspect of the
course—which was to set the stage for
online activities in other courses in the
coming months—was therefore integrated into the classroom activities.
Case Study 2: “Globalization and
Business Management,”
Graduate Business Program,
Western Australian University
Institutional and Political Context
The visiting professor from Canada
was in Australia for the purpose of
teaching Globalization and Business
Management as part of the International
Master of Business Administration
(MBA) program. The previous instructor
for this course had resigned recently and
suddenly from his position, and no one
within the university was immediately
available to assume the vacancy. At the
same time, there were funds available
within the university that could be
applied for and, if granted, used for creating innovative teaching models using
ICTs. Through already evolving
research relationships between professors at both universities, discussions pertaining to a visiting position began, and
the instructor made a 2-week visit to
Australia beginning in the second week
of the MBA students’ semester. Globalization and Business Management was
one of the core courses within the 2-year
MBA program and was the only course
offered in an intensive mode in which
ICTs played a significant role.
The institutional demand for the program was based on the following strategies: (a) seeking market-driven degree
programs to maintain and increase
enrollment levels, (b) attempting to
rationalize the financial resources
devoted to teaching and research, and
(c) seeking to demonstrate some level of
innovation or exploration with regard to
the institution’s core activities. The
management faculty members were
concerned particularly with pleasing
students and meeting their demands.
Perhaps as a consequence, prerequisites
for the course were not established.

Well-established criteria for registering
for the course were not followed. The
department also encouraged instructors
to allow students to register after the
registration deadline and even after
classes had begun.
Use of ICTs
The theoretical material was presented
to students in 3- to 4-hour time frames
every day for 2 consecutive weeks,
resulting in just over 30 hours of intensive delivery of theoretical material. This
was done primarily through lectures, followed by in-class, large- and smallgroup discussions. Before the beginning
of the course, the instructor assigned the
textbook supporting the lectures and
posted more than 200 PowerPoint slides
highlighting the key points of the lectures on the course Web site. The preparation of slides for the entire course content forced the instructor to keep a fast
pace throughout the 2-week period, as
subsequent material required the learning of all previous slides. In other words,
the instructor lost the usual ability to
remove and add slides or to use her discretion and move at a slower pace—
options that are taken for granted in a traditional course offering of 3 hours for 13
consecutive weeks. Furthermore, some
students with greater technological capability, a stronger foundation supporting
the material, and with time and interest,
had prepared the posted slides, making
changes to the course content or components of it practically impossible.
After the intensive 2-week theoretical
instruction, there was an extended
intrasemester break (a result of the Sydney Olympics held that year), after
which an instructor from the Australian
University conducted several smallgroup tutorials twice a week, for 2 hours
each time, for a period of 4 weeks. The
tutorials consisted of student presentations, discussions, and debates around
cases that called for the application of
the theoretical material learned in the
first 2 weeks of classroom sessions. For
tutorial preparation, a synchronous
online chat system was established for
each class. There were also asynchronous online discussions of the theoretical and case materials that were moderated by both instructors.

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Finally, the students and instructors
met together via videoconference
(between Canada and Australia) for a
2-hour session intended to allow for
integration of the materials and a closure to the course. This videoconference was led by the Canadian instructor
and included a lecture followed by a
question-and-answer session. Students
were asked to submit questions before
the videoconference, so the instructor
could address these concerns in a timely manner within the teleconference
presentation. There was a significant
cost to the teleconference, so preprocessing of materials for the session was
deemed necessary. Once again, the
instructor had little discretion to take
the real-time session in a number of
learning directions. Instead, the welldevised plan was followed. The videoconference session was deemed a huge
success by technicians, administrators,
students, and instructors. The Australian University felt that it had connected to North America in a way that
it had not before.

tion for the course differed from that
typically found in a North American
MBA curriculum; their ways of participating in class and their preferred ways
of interacting with instructors differed
from the North American model as
well. Students seemingly held on to
passive roles in the classroom, waiting
for the instructor to ask questions,
resisting challenging the instructor, and
engaging with other students through
the instructor.

Student Characteristics

For the Canadian instructor (the second author), the preparation time for this
course exceeded preparation time for the
same offering in the traditional delivery
method. Although the actual in-class time
(just over 30 hours) was less than the
usual 39 hours of in-class time, the
requirement of having the entire course
content online before starting the course
necessitated a higher level of organization and greater articulation of the goals,
objectives, content, and evaluative
method than usual. Also, the fact that the
course was offered in a different university setting required the instructor to
understand and respond to the administrative details of the institution and to
become somewhat familiar with its technology. Time also was required to meet
and build a relationship and a plan for
working with the Australian instructor
who was teaching the tutorials. Additional time was required to learn the mechanics of videoconferencing successfully.
The preprocessing time and time put
into the course paid off in what students
generally described in evaluations as a
well-organized and well-presented
course. A Student Evaluation of Educational Quality (SEEQ) was conducted

There were 68 students, and almost
all were men. It was an ethnically
diverse group, with a majority being
from India (70%), many Asians (25%),
and a few Europeans (3%). None were
from North America or Australia. Most,
but not all, of the students had undergraduate degrees in business. The focus
of those business degrees, however, varied significantly. Although the course
was recommended to students who were
in their final year of the 2-year MBA,
many were 1st-year students who were
granted permission to enroll. Most of
the students were young and had very
little work experience, though the
amount varied.
English was the second language for
a majority of students, and there was
great diversity among students in their
spoken and written command of English. This factor had implications for
discussions in class, discussions in
tutorials, and online communication.
Students clearly clustered into cultural
groupings when completing course
work requiring interaction and collaboration. In summary, students’ prepara-

and elicited a response rate of 47%.
According to a summary of those evaluations, approximately 89% of responding students agreed that explanations by
the instructor were clear. Approximately
73% of the students agreed that the
course materials were well prepared and
carefully explained, and approximately
80% agreed that the proposed objectives
of the course were consistent with those
actually taught. This success was countered somewhat by the fact that 77% of

Approximately 91% [of the students] agreed that
they had learned something that they considered
valuable.

Observations

the students indicated that the pace of
the course was too fast. There was considerable agreement among students
that the course was more difficult and
the workload heavier compared with
their other subject areas. In qualitative
responses provided by the SEEQ, most
students emphatically stated that the
pace of the course was too fast for the
complexity of the topic. Many commented that the format did not allow the
best integration of theory and practical
application. However, 77% evaluated
that they agreed or strongly agreed that
the class was intellectually challenging
and stimulating. Approximately 91%
agreed that they had learned something
that they considered valuable.
From an instructor perspective, the
2-week intensive classroom delivery
followed by tutorials was a decision
couched in administrative possibility
rather than a decision that was learner
focused. However, the alternative
would have been to cancel the offering
for a semester or more. Once the course
became an administrative possibility,
the university sought to have a large
number attend. This created the situation in which diverse professional and
educational backgrounds of students
came together with great variations in
September/October 2000

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experience and readiness for an intensive classroom experience.
It was difficult to adhere to sustained
lecturing and theoretical emphasis for 3to 4-hour time slots to cover the material.
On the other hand, it was also difficult to
change plans once the classroom sessions began. Advanced preparation of the
many slides was hard to move away from
because some students had prepared
extensively using the slides.
Students did not use the technology
much for socializing or for preparation
before the start of the class. There were
no mandatory assignments required
before or at the opening of classes to
entice participation. It was observed
that the same individuals made contributions online repeatedly and that many
students chose not to contribute online.
Online delivery facilitated discussion

for students with poor English-speaking
skills, who tended to prefer communication of their thoughts in writing rather
than commenting in class. It was also
very apparent that use of the technology
enhanced the contributions of the
female minority in the class. Rarely did
the women speak out in class, yet they
had a significant presence online.
Facilitating the discussion online
was difficult because of the different
proficiencies in English and the different terminologies used by students.
Furthermore, once she was back in
Canada, the Canadian instructor felt
“out of sorts” with the online discussion and worried about potential interference of the student–instructor relationships building in the tutorials.
Unfamiliarity with the software was
stressful for the instructor. This factor

placed significant pressure on the other,
Australian instructor to assist students
in this area. The use of conferencing
software was relatively new. Students
were required to use it in many courses,
but most had not received training.
Comparative Analysis of the
Case Studies
The cases that we describe in this
article share the antecedent of the application of technology for the purpose of
delivering courses in the intensive
mode. They share the outcome of a perceived limitation of discretion by
instructors. We argue that the application of technology in these cases is associated comparatively with this change in
discretion. In Table 1, we summarize
these comparative observations.

TABLE 1. Comparison of Cases by Institutional and Political Context, Use of Information and Communications
Technologies (ICTs), Student Characteristics, and Comparative Observations
Category

Case 1

Institutional and political context

Innovation was emergent: Must display
legitimacy of the program.
Graduate-level communication studies for
business professionals.
Face-to-face is conventional.

Innovation was opportunistic: Must display
capacity for social change.
Graduate-level international business
studies.
Face-to-face is alternative to online.

Use of ICTs

ICT use supplemented by ~30 hours of
face-to-face classroom sessions.
Course text and case studies.
Online planning and preparation and
socializing activities.

ICT use supplemented by ~30 hours of
face-to-face classroom sessions.
Course text and lectures.
Online preparation activities and case
tutorials.
Videoconference session.

Student characteristics

Mainly women.
Some ethnic diversity.
Proficiency in English assumed.
Students at same stage of study.
Professional experience in the area of study.

Mainly men.
Ethnic diversity.
Proficiency in English not to be assumed.
Students at various stages of study.
A minimum of professional experience in
the area of study was required.

Comparative observationsa

University’s demand for face-to-face
instruction satisfied.
Technology enabled interaction and facilitated socialization into the cohort.
Increased explicitness of teaching objectives
and method.
Increased rationalization of teaching
processes.
Reduced classroom discretion.

Student demand for course satisfied.

a

Italics are used to denote the common observation in the two cases.

58

Case 2

Journal of Education for Business

Technology enabled some interactions;
inhibited some crosscultural interactions.
Increased explicitness of teaching objectives
and method.
Increased rationalization of teaching
processes.
Reduced classroom discretion.

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A significant similarity between the
two cases was the increased explicitness
(codification) of teaching and learning
activities following from the use of ICTs.
The courses were substantively similar in
terms of the transformational role of
ICTs. Using an information systems
approach to the communication occurring in teaching and learning, we observe
that university faculty members may
associate the use of technology with the
reduction of information inputs brought
about by the use of ICTs. The reduction
of information inputs is variously
referred to theoretically as preprocessing
(information systems) or rationalization
(sociology).
What is common to these terms is
that they refer to the process of reducing
opportunities for professional discretion
by programming more explicitly what
will be, and will not be, part of the flow
of information within a particular
course of study. The most salient common outcome for the two cases was
therefore that ICTs provided an occasion for recasting the professional
autonomy of the instructor.2 Using the
lens of information systems theory, we
argue that ICTs required or invited the
codification of the objectives and activities of the course plan. As a consequence, information inputs were
reduced, and the horizon of educational
outcomes was abridged.
One factor seemed to exacerbate the
negative consequences arising out of the
reduced discretion in Case 2, as compared with Case 1. In Case 2, little
opportunity was available to adapt the
course on the basis of the students’ characteristics. There was ethnic diversity
and language diversity, in that not all students had the command of the English
language that the instructors expected. In
addition, there were large differences
among students in levels of command of
prerequisite information for the course.
These factors made the lack of discretion
arising from preprocessing more serious
in Case 2 than in Case 1. Had the course
not been offered in intensive mode,
which required so much preprocessing,
the instructors would have prepared
some early lectures to bring all the students to the same level. With preparation
occurring on the weekly basis characteristic of the conventional mode, the

instructors may have been able to (a)
reduce the number of slides and capitalize on the opportunity to work with cultural differences in management training
and understanding and (b) have students
discuss implications for international
business. The codification of the material in advance meant that the instructors
could not spend time on the opportunities for learning inherent in the student
characteristics and the unique context.
Furthermore, although the posting of
course materials in Case 2 occurred in
plenty of time for students to look at and
engage in the material before the course,
many students’ lack of familiarity with
the technology prevented sufficient
preparation. The diversity among students, in terms of the support that they
needed for preparation, prevented the
needed interaction around the material
before the intensive course beginning.
Consequently, the lack of discretion with
regard to changing the content was more
constraining and held more negative consequences in Case 2 than it did in Case 1.
In terms of the common outcome,
both courses displayed the transformational role of technology. Technology
changed the instructors’ roles decisively,
because it created a need to make planning and delivery decisions in advance
and restricted the context for possible
alterations of the plan once classes
began. ICTs were therefore an occasion
for codifying the objectives and activities of the course plan and for transforming the instructor’s role. Information inputs were reduced, and the
horizon of educational outcomes was
abridged as part of the preprocessing
task of the information flow.
The logic and method of agreement
provides a useful heuristic for describing the economy of information associated with the alternative delivery
method of intensive classroom delivery.
This description establishes ICTs as a
significant occasion on which the transformation of the instructor’s role may
take place rather than as a variable to be
adjusted in the teaching and learning
process.
Potentials and Pitfalls
We conclude with a discussion of the
potentials and pitfalls of intensive class-

room delivery and some further reflection on the norm of professional autonomy in relation to the university
teacher’s role.
Potentials
1. We found that students were likely
to experience the intensive classroom as
a positive experience, partly owing to
the maturity and determination of some
of the students in this professional study
program. However, we believe that a
teaching mode characterized by rather
close-grained planning and the selective
use of instructional technology is bound
to be a richer experience for students
than a course without these elements.
The experience will be affected by the
preparation carried out by the instructor
and students before the classroom sessions begin.
2. We found evidence of opportunities to address emerging political and
economic demands using intensive
classroom delivery. This delivery
method can be integrated with other initiatives promoting innovation and the
use of instructional technology in the
university.
3. Some students (visible minorities,
women, and other cultural or ethnic
groups) may find it easier to communicate using computer-mediated communication in the intensive classroom. This
possibility should be considered in the
process of course design.
4. A spirit of cohesion and common
purpose can be built into a course that
uses intensive classroom delivery. The
key is effective use of preclassroom
online and in-class activities.
Pitfalls
1. Once the course is underway, it can
be difficult to make changes to the readings or other planned activities, because
students already will have spent a great
deal of effort preparing by following the
Web-site plan. For example, there may be
little time to ask students to add to their
assigned readings or engage in further
inquiry because the schedule and topics
covered in the course largely will have
been set before the first class begins.
2. Preparation by the instructor likely will be more taxing than it is in the
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conventional classroom. This extra
effort should be taken into account in
workload planning.
3. Some student crosscultural interactions can be inhibited by the use of
computer-mediated communication.
The classroom sessions can be used as
an opportunity to address and possibly
remediate these inhibitions.
4. Faculty members can be expected
to resist perceived reductions in professional autonomy and discretion. Workload adjustments or changes in the
reward system may be appropriate.
When a faculty member does not
have frequent occasions to exercise discretion, there will be fewer negative
consequences for intensive classroom
delivery. For example, an instructor
would want to have professional discretion to make adjustments in the following cases: when the students do not
speak English well, when the students
do not have a common disciplinary language for engaging with the course
material (or when they do not have the
necessary prerequisites), when the students do not have comparable technological skills, when student maturity is
lacking, when the intensive course using
technology is not in the context of a program that supports or contends with
intensives, when there is no social connection among students or there is a
divisive culture, when there is a large
class size (say, more than 30), and when
late entries to the class are permitted.
Conclusion
The two cases described in this article
have provided a window on changes
now occurring in teaching and learning
in higher education. Writing in a different era, Ritzer (1977, p. 61) described
with some clarity the period of disturbance now being experienced by some
university faculty mambers:
Conflict within a profession may revolve
around its missions, work activities,
methodology and techniques, clients, colleagues, interests and associations,
recruits, and public recognition. Segments form around these issues and new
ones do battle with the old ones, which
are seeking to maintain tradition.

The norm of autonomy that is characteristic of any profession is of particular
60

Journal of Education for Business

relevance in this study. By making
course objectives and activities explicit
through occasions for preprocessing
offered by ICTs, alternative teaching
methods such as intensive classroom
delivery open up the “black box” of the
classroom. Such occasions lead to the
conversion of inputs to outputs at the
point at which the inputs are made
explicit. Intensive classroom delivery
tends to remove information from the
economy at an earlier stage than does
the conventional classroom.
NOTES
1. The majority of the work for this article was
completed during Dr. Rose’s time as an assistant
professor with the Faculty of Extension, University of Alberta.
2. See Barley (1986) for a discussion of the use
of the term occasion in association with organizational uses of technology.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We acknowledge Professor Aruna Deo and Dr.
John Gray, the Australian colleagues who were
instrumental in making this innovative delivery of
the Globalization and Business Management
course possible.
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