Educational Technology Leadership and Organisational Change in Nigerian Universities: A Multiple Ontology Study

This study investigates how educational technology leadership drives organisational change in Nigerian universities using a multiple ontology research design, contributing original theoretical insight into the leadership-technology-change nexus in African higher education. Organisational change theory applied to educational technology adoption has been largely derived from single-paradigm studies, yet the complex interplay of power, culture, and institutional inertia in Nigerian universities demands multi-ontological investigation. A pluralistic research design was employed, combining positivist survey methodology with interpretivist case study approaches across two research phases. In phase one, a survey of 250 university administrators, technology directors, and faculty members across 10 Nigerian universities from five geopolitical zones measured relationships between technology leadership behaviours and organisational change outcomes using validated scales. Structural equation modelling identified transformational and distributed leadership as the strongest predictors of technology-driven change. In phase two, in-depth case studies of three universities demonstrating divergent change profiles, including interviews, observations, and document analysis, explored the mechanisms and contextual factors underlying quantitative patterns. Integration of findings generates an original Nigerian University Educational Technology Leadership-Change Model that accounts for the role of informal authority networks, bureaucratic resistance cultures, and resource constraint adaptation strategies unique to Nigerian higher education. Keywords: educational technology leadership, organisational change, Nigerian universities, multiple ontology, higher education