Technology for Learning

Jen posted a great podcast today about Instructors and IT Working Together. Her message resonated with me – here is the comment I left:

This is a very important topic. I’ve also blogged about it – most recently about who gets to decide. I looked at content filtering but that is only one example of the issue. What is important is that decisions are made by the right group at the right time.

Recently I was quoted in CIO Canada. My key message is the role of IT in finding the balance with providing a reliable platform and supporting flexibility.

I am both a believer and an example of the benefits of immersing IT staff in social learning tools. The IT professional knows the importance of understanding their work environment in order to deliver the optimal technology environment. Your suggestion of involving IT staff in educational conferences is a good one. It has been my experience (I’ve been holding sessions with IT staff to introduce them to social learning tools) that even the most technically savvy staff don’t necessarily understand Web 2.0 and its impact for themselves and for students. My latest slide deck starts the immersion and speaks to understanding what the security work is and how it should seek not interfere with the learning work as long the environment can be secured.

I also blogged about Redefining Technical Support, describing my personal mission to help teachers talk to their tech staff, support professional development for tech staff, and evangelize the design technical architectures that find the balance for learning and availability.

Jen, thanks for your great post . Looks like we’re on the same mission from different perspectives. There is much we can learn from each other.