Technologies Socio-Technical Influence on Education

 

With the evolution and availability of technology the ability to re-think how education is delivered is a hot topic.  The article by Hayashi and Baranauskas (2013) focused on the socio-technical aspects of utilizing technology to enhance a student’s learning in formal and informal settings.  The qualitative study introduced low end laptops to schools who had not previously utilized this type of technology for learning.  The study looked at how these laptops could be utilized in the formal in-school setting along with the informal home setting.  In addition, the study evaluated technical aspects which include things such as a teacher’s ability to utilize the laptop as part of her learning plan and technical areas such as access to the internet and charging stations.

A conceptual framework demonstrates the connection of what is being studied to assist in understanding the linkage between the concepts (Jabareen, 2009). The study defined a conceptual framework that demonstrated the informal as the study participants at home, with friends, and with distractions.  The framework demonstrated formal as the actual school setting while the technical was demonstrated as the laptop itself and the technical knowledge to utilize.  The conceptual framework demonstrates the interconnectedness of informal, formal, and technical linkages.

The study included four specific use case and the research findings were viewed from an informal, formal, and technology perspective.  One of the things I appreciated about the findings is that it included a cultural aspect.  It would have been easy to focus only on the ease of completing homework or the efficiency gained by not needing to conduct library research, but the findings include how the student, teacher, and families felt and responded to the addition of technology in the student’s learning plan.

From the ability to replicate the study perspective I believe the study could be replicated as the researchers did a good job of describing the concepts being studied along with detailing the specific use cases.  The challenge in duplicating may be finding not only low-cost laptops to use but also in ensuring that students have access to internet services at home for the informal component.  I believe many of the concerns about laptops being stolen and the safety of the students with laptops would be a relevant concern regardless of location for the study.  Overall, the researchers did a good job of defining the study and then detailing the results to support their research question.

References

Hayashi, E. S., & Baranauskas, M. C. (2013). Affectability in educational technologies: A socio-technical perspective for design. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 16(1), 57–68.

Jabareen, Y. (2009, December). Building a conceptual framework: Philosophy\, definitions, and procedure. International Journal of Qualitative Methods. Doi:10.1177/160940690900800406