Week 5: Tensions Between Technology and Student Affairs
Premise:
Up until this point in the course, we have tacitly presumed that
technology in higher education has professional and pedagogical
utility. Despite the usefulness of the preceding lessons on basic
technological and computer skills, we cannot ignore the potential
conflict between technology and the mission of student affairs.
Will increasing reliance on technology cause the neglect of physical
interaction within the college community, thereby dehumanizing
a field that has historically prioritized student connections?
Will an increased dependence on technology indirectly foster
a sense of alienation or disconnect on a campus, thereby undermining
the capacity of technology to create a seamless learning environment?
Purpose:
To evaluate the possibility of technological innovation supplanting
the fundamental goals of student affairs. To ascertain the ways
in which technology improves and impairs the quality of student
life. To try resolving the tensions
To consider ways student affairs professionals can help technologically
marginalized students adapt to a college community that relies
upon particular technological competencies.
In Class Exercises:
The discussion of the day’s readings will focus on students’ concerns
about the risks of an institutional reliance on technology. Following
a discussion, the class will break into small groups to devise
and execute an informal case study exercise. Each group will construct
a hypothetical scenario in which some element of technology interferes
with or undercuts the traditional mission of student affairs. (For
instance, a group might describe a situation in which a research-oriented
administration financing marginally useful technological initiatives
at the expense of funding campus programming efforts.) Groups will
then trade scenarios, each receiving an unfamiliar hypothetical,
and develop a plan for managing and resolving the apparent conflict
between technological initiative and the priorities of student
affairs. When possible, the groups should emphasize the ways in
which that targeted technology may in fact support the mission
of student affairs, if indirectly.
Readings to be completed by the start of class:
Fraley, L.E. and Vargas, E.A. (1975). Academic tradition
and instructional technology. The Journal of Higher Education
46 (1), 1-15.
Full text available online through J-Stor.
Abstract: The new technologies are being forced within the old
organizational structures in education, but those structures cannot
accommodate the complex and sophisticated systems needed to realize
present goals. Substantial changes in organization are demanded
which promote a stronger integrity in instructional systems and
permit personnel growth by the accretion of diverse expertise.
Traditional education has assumed that the essence of instruction
is in its content, and most structural models in education have
evolved accordingly. Though important, content can no longer be
considered the most critical dimension. Concern with accountability
forces attention on the process; the technology, including organizational
arrangements, becomes critical. Universities must restructure themselves
in order to operationalize current instructional models, avoid
gross waste of resources, and become accountable in a manner acceptable
to all responsible interests.
Johnson, P. (1998). Implementing Technological Change.
College and Research Libraries 49 (1), 38-46.
Addresses some problems associated with technological change and
examines the nature of data and technology, organizations, and
computer-mediated work. Concepts of sociotechnical systems design
are related to library automation, and a set of strategies for
facilitating technological change is proposed.
King, F.B. (2002). Virtual student: Not an ordinary Joe.
Internet and Higher Education 5 (2), 157-166.
Discusses problems with distance education, focusing on the higher
dropout rate in online, Web-based courses compared to traditional
campus-based education. Topics include feelings of isolation; frustrations
with the technology; anxiety; confusion; course design; helping
establish a collaborative community of learners; virtual office
hours; and future possibilities.
Massey, M.G. and Stedman, D.W. (1995). Emotional Climate
in the Information Technology Organization: Crisis or Crossroads?
Cause/Effect 18 (4), 7-14.
The tremendous impact of technological change on human workers,
coupled with declining resources in many college and university
information technology programs, can create an emotionally and
physically harmful environment for employees. They can also present
an important opportunity for positively changing cognitive behavior
and increasing workplace effectiveness.
McClure, P.A. (1997). The Crisis in Information Technology
Support: Has Our Current Model Reached Its Limit? CAUSE Professional
Paper Series, No. 16.
This essay addresses the fundamental changes in higher education
that make existing models of information technology support inappropriate
and insufficient, and it suggests how new models might evolve.
The paper discusses three primary issues that define the current
crisis: overwhelming demands on the central information technology
organization; deteriorating quality of support; and scapegoating
of central information technology organizations. It then presents
a new, holistic support model with four core characteristics: a "whole-product" focus;
a strategic economic model; a focus on customer needs; and a reliable
baseline information infrastructure. The paper then suggests various
measures for addressing the crisis, such as educating campus constituencies,
engaging users in decision making, basing development of an information
economy upon a model of federalism, creating effective distributed
support models, and mentoring and recruiting new staff. The paper
concludes with a brief look at the past and a look to the future.
Two tables and a figure summarize some of the ideas presented.
Rosen, L.D. and Weil, M.M. (1995). Computer anxiety: A
cross-cultural comparison of university students in ten countries.
Computers in Human Behavior 11 (1), 45-64.
Based on a larger study of technophobia and technological sophistication,
this study assessed computer anxiety among undergraduates in 10
countries and compared the factor structure found in the United
States to that found in 9 other countries. Highlights include Interactive
Computer Learning Anxiety; Consumer Technology Anxiety; Computer
Victimization Factor; and Observational Computer Learning Anxiety.
Home exercise (due to the instructors via E-mail before
the start of the next class session):
Using publishing software, develop an itinerary and related publicity
for a day-long technology orientation for new students at your
home institution. You might consider:
·
the academic and social needs of an incoming student population
·
the basic skills students need for academic work
·
campus resources and possible partnerships
·
on-going training initiatives facilitated or organized by student
affairs