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V. Hornung-Prähauser:
"Systemic innovations enabled by information and communication technology in education. Towards an integrative, multi-level research framework for exploring the complex shaping and integration of ICT-based innovations exemplified by the case of e-portfolios";
Supervisor, Reviewer: W. Hofkirchner, T. Hascher; Center for Advanced Studies and Research in Information and Communication Technologies and Society, 2011; oral examination: 2012-03-05.

The thesis deals with systemic ICT-based innovations, especially e-portfolios, in education, because this type of e-learning innovation is of special character. It can be understood as a techno-pedagogical innovation, and, if integrated on a systemic scale, it is not only adopted by a wide range of actors, but also deeply embedded in the structures of an educational system, and, has boundaries even to other subsystems, such as the economy (job market). Empirical evidence shows that the shaping and integration process of e-portfolios is a very dynamic process taking place in a complex national educational system. The thesis will:
. Provide a systematic, interdisciplinary synopsis of the theoretical approaches on ICT-based innovations relevant for the societal subsystem of education from different disciplines of the social sciences (communication and media science, sociology of technology, education/media pedagogy, economics and organisational studies) and the natural sciences (computer sciences),
. Analyse the theoretical strands as to their aptness for advancing research in the field of e-learning (strengths, limitations, contradictions) and investigate relevant determinants influencing the systemic integration process at the macro-, meso- and micro-levels of an educational system,
. Develop an integrative, multi-level framework encompassing a set of determinants that help to systematically research the interdependencies of a systemic ICT-based innovation in a national educational system, and . Exemplify the practical and theoretical utility of such an integrative, multi-level framework by the application to the case of e-portfolio integration in European higher education (multiple-case study).

http://publik.tuwien.ac.at/files/PubDat_207037.pdf