Barriers and Opportunities (Distance Learning)

Technology experts and the common technology user: shall the twain ever meet?

It is comforting to know that some things are timeless. The sound of the ocean surf. And now, the gulf between the highly trained networking and technology experts and the inexperienced technology users. Whether in business or education, there is at the very least a “tsk, tsk” uttered in private by the technology experts about the users. Stories abound about such user follies as using the CD-ROM drive bay as a cup holder. At its most extreme, there may be a desire to lock out, bolt down, shut off, and otherwise control the use of networks by the “damn users.” In a reflective, albeit impractical moment, a network engineer may be heard to mutter, “If it weren’t for the users, our network would never fail.”

integrating innovation into the mainstream

Most learn that migrating innovation into mainstream practice is a complex task. Geoffrey Moore (Crossing the Chasm and Living on the Fault Line) points out that technology first has a destabilizing effect. Normal mechanisms for adapting to change tend to behave like antibodies that act to reject change as a possible threat to “life” (Moore, 2001). Educators and technology experts have not had to understand and accommodate each other’s needs and requirements quite as closely as is now required by the full integration of networking technologies into teaching and learning. There is no more demanding technology environment than the school and college classroom. There is no more demanding setting in which to use network resources than the instructional setting.

Because of these factors, this discussion focuses on the relationship between Core versus Context. The word “core” refers to the key skill and its application. The word “context” refers to the environment in which this skill is applied. For technology experts and educators, what is core and what is context is vastly different. In some cases what is core for one is context for the other. Herein lies part of the complexity of network support and the source of a key barrier to successful technology implementation.

discussion of core versus context

“I Hate the sales Force!”

Let’s use a hypothetical situation, such as the gulf between the engineers and the sales group in a technology company, to dramatize the definitions of Core and Context. For the senior network engineers, the technology is Core. Customer expectation, the implementation environment, time frames, and so forth are all context. The sales team’s Core is the environment, timeframes, customer expectation, and so forth. So the Core for the sales team is the context for the network engineers.

The engineers despise (maybe distrust is a better word?) salesmen because salesmen always over-promise. The sales team is annoyed by the engineers because they are always saying something cannot be done.. .meaning it cannot be done in that environment, in that timeframe, and to meet the customer’s expectations. But the engineers must eventually accommodate the fact that until a sale is made, nothing happens.. .the engineer cannot install and support an elegant technology solution until a customer has ordered it. The sales person must also understand and accommodate the engineer’s core responsibility, and sell something that can actually be implemented and supported by the engineer.

Is there a solution to the salesman/engineer dilemma? How does one side develop empathy for the other’s position? Would it help to teach the salespeople more about the technology so they do not over-promise and put the engineers in a conundrum? Perhaps we could teach the engineers a little about the sales process so they will be able to influence the contract and thereby contribute to the successful implementation.

core and context in the education technology environment

The communication gap we find between the network engineer and the salesman also exists in education between what the technology experts in a district know and what the teacher knows about technology. In business, the technology has become mission-critical and cannot be set aside. The educator, unlike the business user, still has alternatives and can step back from using technology if it is not responding as expected. So, even though it is fast becoming mission-critical to integrate technology into the student’s learning experience, teachers can choose to avoid trying technology if it is unstable or unreliable.

core vs. context in your district

Any organization can benefit from understanding what is Core and what is Context for each group. Limited understanding of each other’s circumstances and needs can result in a disconnection over technology and technology support.

Limited understanding usually results in limited empathy. The network administrators would benefit from an empathetic user base. The users would benefit from more empathetic network administrators. The bottom line is that each group sees what it sees from its own Context and under the pressures of its own Core. An analysis of the Core and Context for each of the technology support teams is offered below to influence an understanding of the needs and requirements of each group.

core and context for it (information technology)

Because networking and its rules and protocols are new to many in education, the user context presented to the network administrators is a difficult one. Network engineers and administrators must think of their world in terms of numbers, standards, rules, and protocols, or their world will not work. When you follow the rules, everything usually works. But for all of their significant technology expertise, these network administrators have limited experience with “soft” skills like teaching, and usually do not have the experience in the classroom to generate a feeling of empathy for the emotion and anxiety of the teaching moment. So, the Context for network use for the professional technologist is far different from the Context for the professional teacher.

Figure 1. District IT or networking services

Figure 2. Core and context for building technology coordinator: The building-level technology coordinator or network administrators

summary points

More than Money

The smooth operation of technology requires more than money. Layers of support personnel from within the school to dedicated district teams must provide the necessary person power. An understanding of Core vs. Context for each audience will help foster success.

Negative support Data

In 1999, the Milken Foundation produced a report of Web-based education. This report of technology implementation in 27 states found that it took from 14 hours to more than seven days to fix a technology problem in a school or classroom. The average response time was more than two days. While this would be unthinkable in most businesses, imagine what it means to a teacher who has developed a lesson around the Internet, only to discover that the whole class is disrupted for an unknown period of time (Solomon & Wiederhorn, 2000).

“We’re Not Alone”

The circumstances described in the Core vs. Context descriptions are not unique to your school or district. This scenario is repeated in hundreds (thousands?) of school districts around the country. The feelings or attitudes of each group in the education technology environment are valid. The question is this: “How can we bridge this divide to improve the quality of the work life of all the professionals involved? How can we resolve these sticky issues in order to optimize the quality of teaching and learning with technology?” Let’s build an understanding. But, let’s also build technology competency, develop service support and delivery concepts that feature enhancement of the end-user experience, and implement processes and tools that assure technology reliability and stability for everyone.