Influencing factors in the implementation of postgraduate medical e-learning: a thematic analysis

BMC Medical Education

Table 3 Interpretation of Rogers’ diffusion of innovation for PGMeL

Step	Rogers stage	PGMeL equivalent
Decision process
1	Knowledge	inform users of existence
2	Persuasion	convince users of importance
3	Decision	start or reject the e-learning
4	Implementation	reach the target audience
5	Confirmation	evaluate the learning aims
Attributes of the innovation
1	Relative advantage	added value
2	Compatibility	design should fit the organization
3	Complexity	adjust to target audience
4	Trialability	personalize learning path
5	Observability	results should be visible
Adopter categories
1	Innovators	creator team
2	Early adopters	pilot group
3	Early majority	first users
4	Late majority	last users
5	Lagers	unwilling

Legend Table 3: Rogers distinguishes three aspects of innovation implementation. The decision process of the user, the attributes of the innovation and the categories of users called adopters. The decision process contains five steps that the user will go through. Those steps can be translated into PGMeL, shown in the last column. The attributes should be linked to the created e-learning, making it more likely that the user will decide to accept the e-learning. Finally, defining the users/adopter factors might help identify barriers for each group.

ISSN: 1472-6920