Introducing PebblePad from the ground up: It’s a bumpy road to the top

Abstract

This study traces the introduction of PebblePad to the learning and teaching practices of a small university. Originating from a single academic’s vision for its potential use, PebblePad has been slowly adopted across other disciplines through localised participatory leadership. The way this process developed presents an opportunity to explore participants’ perspectives on ground up change management in the development of PebblePad into the learning and teaching pedagogy of a small university. Being introduced by a single academic in the teacher education discipline and slowly adopted across other faculties, ideas of change management from both management and pedagogical perspectives are presented as a unique case where change does not emanate from the management level. Five staff members were interviewed about their introduction and experiences with PebblePad. The results demonstrated that the participants appreciated the training from PebblePad and the collegial support of their peer academics. While mentioning the issue of time management and technology fatigue in learning another innovation, it was accepted that the ground up approach was appropriate because of the demonstrated effectiveness of the new application and the low-pressure mode of adoption.