Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
The “Ecosystem” Model
It is very tempting to describe as an ecosystem any dynamic system, i.e. any sys-
tem with multiple circular causal components (Copeland, 1979, Stoll & Fink, 1996;
Dillenbourg, 2008). This metaphor has been applied outside the field of environ-
mental sciences for instance to describe a city or a society as an ecosystem. Some
authors such as Resnick (2002) or Brown and Adler (2008) use the word ecosystem
to refer to the global learning space outside the school, namely the digital sphere.
As for “orchestration,” these metaphors are used in a shallow way. Nonetheless, is it
interesting to consider a classroom as an ecosystem when one designs learning tech-
nologies? Does it help to understand why some methods “work well”? Actually, the
notion of ecosystem is quite different from the “orchestration” since an ecosystem
does not include a central orchestrator (unless some divinity is considered as orches-
trator). Nonetheless, some authors in natural sciences talk about “orchestrating an
ecosystem” such as a Sequoia Forest (Brigg, 2001). The word “orchestration” is
then used in a broad sense as a synonym of “management.” The ecosystem model
has also been applied to business cases. For instance, the study of various commu-
nities using the SAP environment is described as the orchestration of an ecosystem
(Iansiti & Lakhani, 2009). We prefer to restrict “orchestration” to a specific type of
management, as described by the factors identified so far.
Species
In an ecosystem, one cannot start feeding the rabbits without considering the impact
on foxes. As any ecosystem, a classroom shelters the interactions between several
animal species: students, teachers, teaching assistants (TAs), special support staff,
directors, inspectors, parents, etc. This has trivial implications which are nonetheless
worth mentioning.
Methods that “work well” don't only have to be designed for learners and, as
mentioned in “Teacher-Centrism,” for teachers, but also for parents, directors, etc.
For instance, the learning technologies our community is developing rarely pay
attention to the homework and, through it, to the role of parents. Technologies could
improve the integration of homework in the flow of learning and enable parents to
follow what their children have done. Isn't it strange that, while many scholars on
learning technologies are parents, we behave as researchers as if we were not? Some
ethical arguments may explain why researchers neglect these possibilities: home-
work increases the effects of social disparities (Ferguson, Ludwig, & Rich, 2001);
not all parents have Internet access; parents might interfere too much with the teach-
ers' job. However, the reality is that parents and homework are part of the ecosystem.
Factor 4 (again).
Integration
of homework and parents' interaction in the
educational workflow.
