Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

When Technology Supports Educational Services: Distance Education Use in Rural Italian Schools

  • Conference paper
Exploring Services Science (IESS 2012)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing ((LNBIP,volume 103))

Included in the following conference series:

  • 1102 Accesses

Abstract

This study focuses on the factors that affect the schools decision to offer educational services by an e-learning platform. We based on institutional framework to explain the choice of e-learning adoption by schools operating in rural contexts. These schools face greater difficulties to achieve education requirements and, thus, they are forced to ensure their services adopting an alternative educational model compared with traditional face-to-face learning. Based on the qualitative approach, we investigated the case of the “Digital school project” in Italy. The study highlighted that coercive and mimetic institutional isomorphism affect rural schools decision to use the distance education.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Maglio, P.P., Srinivasan, S., Kreulen, J.T., Spohrer, J.: Service Systems, Service Scientists, SSME and Innovation. Communications of the ACM, 81–85 (July 2006)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Timmer, M., Inklaar, R., O’Mahony, M.: Economic Growth in Europe: A Comparative Industry Perspective. Cambridge University Press (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Wei, J., Chen, J., Zhu, Q.: Service Science, Management and Engineering Education. International Journal of Service Science, Management, Engineering, and Technology 2, 51–69 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Yass, A.A., Yaseen, N.M., Zaidan, B.B., Zaidan, A.A., Jalab, H.A.: SSME Architecture Design in Reserving Parking Problems in Malaysia. Afr. J. Bus. Manage (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Schettkat, R., Yocarini, L.: The Shift to Services Employment: A Review of the Literature. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics 17, 127–147 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Heskett, J.L.: Managing in the service economy. Harvard Business School Press (1986)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Grönroos, C.: Service quality: the six criteria of good perceived service quality. The El Paso Business Review 9, 10–13 (1988)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Ngai, L.R., Pissarides, C.A.: Structural Change in a Multi-Sector Model of Growth. The American Economic Review 97, 429–444 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Grönroos, C.: Service Management and Marketing: A Customer Relationship Management Approach, 2nd edn. Wiley, New York (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Spohrer, J., Maglio, P.P.: The emergence of service science: toward systematic service innovations to accelerate co-creation of value. Prod Oper Manage 17(3), 1–9 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Chesbrough, H., Spohrer, J.: A research manifesto for services science. Communication ACM 49(7), 35–40 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Spohrer, J., Maglio, P.P., Bailey, J., Gruhl, D.: Towards a science of service systems. Computer 40(1), 71–77 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. IfM, IBM: Succeeding through Services Innovation: a discussion paper. University of Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing, Cambridge (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Ng, I., Maull, R., Smith, L.: Embedding the New Discipline of Service Science. The Science of Service Systems, 13–35 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Lusch, R.F., Stephen, L.V.: Service-Dominant Logic as a Foundation for Building a General Theory. In: Lusch, R.F., Vargo Stephen, L. (eds.) The Service-Dominant Logic of Marketing: Dialog, Debate and Directions, pp. 406–420. M.E. Sharpe, Armonk (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Evangelista, R.: Sectoral patterns of technological change in services. Economics of Innovation and New Technology 9, 183–221 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Ismail, M.N., Yahya, Y., Mukhtar, M., Zahrawi, A.A., Zakaria, M.S.: A service science approach for eLearning. IEEE Xplore Digital Library (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Gershuny, J.I., Miles, I.: The New Service Economy: the Transformation of Employment in Industrial Societies. Pinter, London (1983)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Barras, R.: Towards a theory of innovation in services. Research Policy 15, 161–173 (1986)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Gallouj, F.: Innovation in services and the attendant old and new myths. The Journal of Socio-Economics 31, 137–154 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Arbaugh, J.B.: How much does “Subject Matter” matter? A study of disciplinary effects in on-line MBA courses. Academy of Management Learning & Education 4(1), 57–73 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Cradler, J., McNabb, M., Freeman, M., Burchett, R.: How does technology influence student learning? Learning and Leading with Technology 29(8) (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Bernard, R.M., Abrami, P.C., Lou, Y., Borokhovski, E., Wade, A., Wozney, L., Wallet, P.A., Fiset, M., Huang, B.: How does distance education compare with classroom instruction? A meta-analysis of the empirical literature. Review of Educational Research 74(3), 379–439 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Barker, B.O., Hall, R.F.: Distance Education in Rural Schools: Technologies and Practice. Journal of Research in Rural Education 10(2), 126–128 (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Zhang, D., Zhou, L., Briggs, R.O., Nunamaker Jr., J.F.: Instructional video in e-learning: Assessing the impact of interactive video on learning effectiveness. Information & Management 43(1), 15–27 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Hannum, W.H., Irvin, M.J., Banks, J.B., Farmer, T.W.: Distance education use in rural schools. Journal of Research in Rural Education 24(3) (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Bassi, L.: How much does e-learning cost? LineZine: Learning in the New Economy (2000), http://www.linezine.com/2.1/features/lbhmec

  28. Fielden, J.: Costing eLearning: is it worth trying or should we ignore the figures? Report from The Observatory of Borderless Higher Education (2002), http://www.obhe.ac.uk

  29. Welsh, E.T., Wanberg, C.R., Brown, K.G., Simmering, M.J.: E-learning: Emerging uses, empirical results and future directions. International Journal of Training and Development 7(4), 245–258 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Weller, M.: Learning objects and the e-learning cost dilemma. Open Learning 19(3), 293–302 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Bates, A.W., Bates, T.: Technology, e-learning and distance education. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Alonso, F., López, G., Manrique, D., Viñes, J.M.: An instructional model for web-based e-learning education with a blended learning process approach. British Journal of Educational Technology 36(2), 217–235 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Zhang, D., Zhou, L.: Enhancing e-Learning with interactive multimedia. Information Resources Management Journal 16(4), 1–14 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Meyer, J.W., Rowan, B.: Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony. American Journal of Sociology 83(2), 340–363 (1977)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Tolbert, P.S., Zucker, L.G.: Institutional sources of change in the formal structure of organizations: the diffusion of civil service reforms, 1880-1935. Administrative Science Quarterly 23, 22–39 (1983)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. DiMaggio, P.J., Powell, W.W.: The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. Am. Sociol. Rev. 48(2), 147–160 (1983)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Powell, W.W., DiMaggio, P.J.: The new institutionalism in organizational analysis. University of Chicago Press, Chicago (1991)

    Google Scholar 

  38. Scott, W.R., Meyer, J.W.: Institutional Environments and Organizations. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  39. Deephouse, D.L.: Does isomorphism legitimate? Academy of Management Journal 39(4), 1024–1039 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Zucker, L.: Organizations as Institutions. In: Bacharach, S. (ed.) Research in Sociology of Organizations, pp. 1–47. JAI Press, Greenwich (1983)

    Google Scholar 

  41. Meyer, J.W.: The impact of education funding and control on state and local organizational governance. Stanford University Press, New York (1979)

    Google Scholar 

  42. Fennel, M.L.: The effect of environmental characteristics on the structure of hospital clusters. Administrative Science Quarterly 25, 484–510 (1980)

    Google Scholar 

  43. Hannan, M., Freeman, J.: The population ecology of organizations. American Journal of Sociology 82, 929–964 (1977)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Carroll, G.R., Delacroix, J.: Organizational mortality in the newspaper industries of Argentina and Ireland: An ecological approach. Administrative Science Quarterly 27, 169–198 (1982)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Meyer, J.W., Scott, W.R.: Organizational environments: Ritual and rationality. Sage Publications, Inc. (1983)

    Google Scholar 

  46. Clark, B.R.: The Higher Education System: Academic Organization in Cross-national Perspective. University of California Press, Berkeley (1983)

    Google Scholar 

  47. Ramirez, F., Ventresca, M.: Building the institutions of mass schooling. In: Fuller, B., Rubinson, R. (eds.) The Political Construction of Education. Praeger, New York (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  48. Meyer, J.W., Ramirez, F.O., Frank, D.J., Schofer, E.: Higher Education as an institution. In: Patricia, J. (ed.) Sociology of Higher Education: Contributions and their Contexts. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  49. Kerckhoff, A.C.: The realism of educational ambitions in England and the United States. American Sociological Review 42(4), 563–571 (1977)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Buchman, C., Dalton, B.: Interpersonal influences and educational aspirations in 12 countries: the importance of institutional context. Sociology of Education 75, 99–122 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca: La scuola statale: sintesi dei dati. Report from MIUR (2010), http://www.istruzione.it/web/ministero/dettaglio-news/-/dettaglioNews/viewDetta-glio/13375/11207

  52. Lieberman, M.B., Montgomery, D.B.: First-mover advantages. Strategic Management Journal, 9 (summer special issue), 41–58 (1988)

    Google Scholar 

  53. Levitt, B., March, J.G.: Organizational learning. In: Scott, W.R. (ed.) Annual Review of Sociology, vol. 14, pp. 319–340. Annual Reviews, Palo Alto, CA (1988)

    Google Scholar 

  54. Teo, H.H., Wei, K.K., Benbasat, I.: Predicting intention to adopt interorganizational linkages: An institutional perspective. MIS Quarterly 27(1), 19–49 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. “Parthenope” University of Naples, Italy

    Rocco Agrifoglio, Concetta Metallo & Luisa Varriale

Authors
  1. Rocco Agrifoglio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Concetta Metallo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Luisa Varriale
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Geneva, Carouge, Switzerland

    Mehdi Snene

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Agrifoglio, R., Metallo, C., Varriale, L. (2012). When Technology Supports Educational Services: Distance Education Use in Rural Italian Schools. In: Snene, M. (eds) Exploring Services Science. IESS 2012. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 103. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28227-0_16

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28227-0_16

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-28226-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-28227-0

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics