By Tom Preskett
I’ve been reflecting over the last few days on common questions I’m asked as I go about my job as a Learning Technologist. Questions like “I don’t have time to think about this” or “Why should I use this?” come up a lot. It’s clear to me now that a key skill in my role is to be able to respond to these questions effectively, in such a way as to cause the questioners to rethink their position and open up to a new viewpoint. I can tell you now that this isn’t easy. Here are some pointers:
In my education context, the worst thing you can do is throw blame around and talk about “what we need to do” rather than “it’s terrible that we don’t do such and such.”
Another important point is to relate your talk to your audience. There are many reasons for this. Firstly, among educators in 2010, understanding of learning technology is low so talks about it may be confusing and off-putting. Also, you want to be talking about processes and value they understand and can relate to. Further, it should always be about how the technologies fit into the bigger picture and if you just bang on about the ICT it’ll feel alien to their world.
I also like to stress the the possible incorporating of learning technologies is an element of the learning design process. So, as an organisation, the key is to value learning design; to value giving time and space to reflect and think about how you teach. The potential use of learning technologies is part of this process in the sense that they exist as tools in the toolbox from which you pick and choose. I spoke about the tools in the toolbox metaphor a few days ago. Valuing learning design is key, and it comes from the educators themselves and the management of organisations. So the subtle difference here is that you are NOT pushing e-learning because it ticks a box that needs to be ticked, but you ARE promoting good teaching and learning by engendering a culture of giving time and space to reflect on learning design.
Yes, there is learning to be done. But I think a good quality educator should be prepared to continually learn and adapt. Learning and adapting is an important part of living.
Learning online isn’t different to learning offline. Learning is the same as it’s been forever.
The change isn’t so drastic. Learning online isn’t different to learning offline. Learning is the same as it’s been forever. Learning strategies may change as we have more options (more tools), but the end result is the same thing you’ve always been asked to deliver. All you need to do is understand how to work the new tools and, more importantly, understand the values behind each.
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John Mark Walker: "If educational communities can continue to push platform integration and content portability, in the future, students may be able to design their own personalized degrees from smaller, modular chunks that cross institutional barriers" (
Richard Koubek
Judith McDaniel
Tim Fraser-Bumatay: "Although the format leaves us far-removed physically, the online forum has its own sense of intimacy" (Judith McDaniel, "
Ryan Kelly: "For me to be able to work with people clear across the country for an extended period of time opened me up to new things" (Judith McDaniel, "
Daniel Herrera: "As a Mexican American, I know that words of identity are powerful; so to discuss white privilege with my professor and classmates in a face-to-face class would have been terrifying and impossible" (Judith McDaniel, "
Cathy Gunn: "Traditional methods for effecting change at my institution aren’t getting us even to a trickle yet, let alone to thinking about or planning for a wave!" (
Educational Technology and Change Journal 
You make some really great points here. I often fear people focus too much on the flair of technology and what is possible than on what is actually happening. You say “I think a good quality educator should be prepared to continually learn and adapt. Learning and adapting is an important part of living,” and I agree. It’s one of the hardest lessons to learn, however, that one is not always right. I know from experience. :)
Great piece!
Thanks for this Jessica,
You are right. The flair of technology can be off-putting as well as attractive. it’s important to use it at the appropriate times. Linking new technologies to the reality of education today is hard and there is often a disconnect between the two. I guess that what we are trying to do here.