10.28.05
Run-Away Blog: What was the point?
A recent news post Beyond ‘’Toys, Travel and Food’ posted to the Inside Higher Ed News blog expands upon a panel discussion held last week at the Educause conference in Florida. The topic: “incentives and rewards” as a means for enticing professors to experiment with and adopt the latest technological innovations in their classroom work. Glen Everett, presenter and Director of IT at Stonehill College, admits that though practical rewards may entice, it is the disincentives that contribute to the lack of faculty technological adoption. The fact that integrating a new technology is typically not recognized or rewarded in the tenure process seems to be the most prominent road block.
What I find most interesting here is not the blog content but the comments that followed. Although the author of the blog, Doug Lederman, may have intended to promote discussion on addressing support from the top rungs of the institutional ladder, what he got seems to be a runaway blog.
Taking no prisoners, responding bloggers share their own opinions of what causes the lack of faculty buy-in. Hardware that fails and software that isn’t designed to meet educational needs are easy targets - but it doesn’t stop there. Over-zealous directors, faculty clicks and IT support that lack classroom teaching experience also take a hit. Whether we choose to see ourselves here or not, it is clear that technological advancement of the institution is the responsibility of all segments of academia and the desired outcome must remain focused on student learning.
Martha said,
October 31, 2005 at 12:15 pm
Wow. Thanks for sharing this Lisa. I agree with you that the content and tenor of the comments is more interesting in this case than the original article (which is interesting, but not nearly as compelling as the commentary).
I have to admit, that as a so-called “techie” reading these comments could be a little painful at times. I know that not all faculty feel this way, but it is somewhat disheartening to read thing like ” tech support has patchy knowledge, and half the time they’re no help at all, just aggravating.”
Or: “when a University decides that its tool-brandishers are more important than its wise people — its teachers — it is on the pathway down into dumb.”
Or: “I suspect that the ultimate plan is to do away with the professors, and replace them with IT people who will teach distance courses based on their own views of what teaching is about.”
I had to keep reminding myself that I don’t work at these peoples’ institutions, and I can’t speak about what is going on at them. All I can hope is that faculty at UMW don’t feel this way.
That said, I think the article certainly struck a cord with the faculty who commented–and it is a disgruntled, threatened cord. We all should take heed.