If You're Serious About Designing Edtech Solutions, Start With the Learners

Iansito, Karah

ET

Sussman, M.  (2017, February 25).  If you’re serious about designing edtech solutions, start

With the learners.  EdSurge.  Retrieved from https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-02-

25-if-you-re-serious-about-designing-edtech-solutions-start-with-the-learners

Summary

Sussman speaks about her own experience designing and implementing edtech, humanizing what can be a dehumanized, disconnected, and antisocial experience.

Evaluation

Such an eye opener!  Again, I was lucky enough to have a sort of epiphany as I was reading this article, originally shared with class from Dr. L.   In thinking about the setup of a learning commons at my own school, Sussman’s article really hit home.  From my essay for Module 1 on the topic of Educational Theory and Practice:

Among the many articles I have accumulated on the subject, one in particular stands out for the way in which it frames the whole endeavor of the school librarian as creator and caretaker of the learning commons.  Over the past ten or fifteen years, and certainly of late in my own building, there has sprung up an atmosphere that could be described as sort of “us versus them,” with the tech experts and adopters on one side and the rest of the school community on the other.  It is unfortunate at best and toxic at worst, and can seem insurmountable, erecting a wall between colleagues that hurts everyone involved, not least of all the students.  This article, written by San Francisco Bay area native turned “techie,” Maya Sussman (2017), not only defines the problem I’ve witnessed at work but been unable to identify until now, but she cuts right through the chaff and gets to a reasonable way forward.  Her comments have to do with designing edtech, but I believe apply well to the school librarian as designer of the learning commons:

The good news is that the skills required to be a thoughtful and successful designer are also skills that make us better friends, co-workers, and citizens. A little more empathy, collaboration, and optimism can go a long way in designing more effective learning tools, and in bridging the divides between designers and learners, researchers and educators, and yes, Bay Area natives and techies. (Sussman, 2017)

The “us versus them” feeling has been pervasive, and I’ve wondered at how to bridge that divide.  I think I can be a great asset to my principal in this capacity as a veteran educator in the school.  The simplicity with which Sussman addresses the issue was inspiring to read, and I will keep it close by as I begin to think about designing my very first learning commons.