Date of Conferral

5-22-2025

Date of Award

May 2025

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Education

Advisor

Loren Naffziger

Abstract

Recent studies highlight institutional readiness as critical to the successful adoption of online and blended learning (OBL) in higher education; however, limited research in Jamaican vocational institutions presents a risk of implementation failure and reduced return on investment for stakeholders. This basic qualitative study explored how institutional leaders in Jamaican vocational education institutions describe institutional readiness for OBL adoption and implementation. Grounded in facilitating conditions as a construct of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and guided by the blended learning adoption framework, the study focused on the readiness of institutional strategy, structure, and support. Semistructured interviews with 12 purposively selected institutional leaders from Jamaican government-funded vocational education institutions offering OBL courses were analyzed using a theoretical analysis approach that integrated a priori codes from the conceptual framework with inductively identified categories and themes. Findings indicated that leaders emphasized training and stakeholder buy-in as key OBL strategies while focusing little on OBL policy and governance. Leaders also described institutional OBL structures as multifaceted but needing improvement, OBL support as varied with few incentives, and OBL readiness as dependent on human and resource capacities amid inadequate facilitating conditions. This study facilitated social change as it addressed a gap in the literature and may inform institutional decision-making, policy development, and improvements related to OBL implementation while contributing to national and regional vocational skills development strategies across Jamaica and other Caribbean countries, in alignment with global frameworks.

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