Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Award Date

2025

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department / School

Teaching, Training and Leadership

First Advisor

Tony Durr

Abstract

This case study explores generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) adoption patterns, innovation attributes, and equity implications within a diverse educational cooperative in western South Dakota. A mixed methods approach was employed to analyze adoption trends, perceived productivity differentials, and the significance of key innovation characteristics to 40 employees representing a range of divisions, roles, and levels of digital competence. Employees with lower self-reported digital competence and higher average age reported disproportionately higher perceived productivity gains from GenAI tools. This may suggest GenAI may level the playing field for aging individuals who have previously felt marginalized by rapid technological change in the workplace. Using an extended model of the Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) framework, this study also finds support that the attributes of relative advantage, ease of use, result demonstrability, and trialability are significant predictors of GenAI adoption. This has important implications for less digitally confident individuals as well as their employers as it may indicate a path toward unlocking latent productivity potential in the aging workforce.

Publisher

South Dakota State University

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Rights Statement

In Copyright