Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The educational technologist as a variety-handler

Videoconferencing for remote music lessons as a case in point

  • Published:
Education and Information Technologies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this work, we theorise the role of the educational technologist in an educational institution as a “variety-handler”. That is, we theorise the educational technologist as responsible for the orchestration of educational and technical resources, namely tools, either to attenuate systemic variety or amplify regulative variety at a certain level of recursion. To do so, we carried out a single case study that focused on the work of the educational technologist in a Music College. The educational technologist provided support to an accordion teacher and his student in remote music lessons. We collected qualitative data from the practice of the educational technologist and the experience of both the teacher and the student over six months (mainly observations and interviews) and we analyzed them building on research from managerial cybernetics, in particular, Stafford Beer’s Viable System Model (VSM). Our case study indicates that, depending on the context, the educational technologist may overtake many roles, such as be a designer, technician, researcher, planner and so on. But the central role is that of handling variety in order to avoid disruption that could potentially affect the lesson negatively.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. https://www.skype.com/en/

  2. https://zoom.us/

  3. https://www.google.com/docs/about/

  4. https://hangouts.google.com/

  5. https://lesono.com/

  6. From: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115003279466-Preserve-Original-Sound [last accessed 20 June 2019]

  7. The Original Sound mode is now available in Zoom in a way where one actually retains echo-cancellation, if he/she wishes to.

References

  • Aagaard, J. (2017). Breaking down barriers: The ambivalent nature of technologies in the classroom. New Media & Society, 19(7), 1127–1143.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ashby, W. (1957). An introduction to cybernetics. London: Chapman & Hall Ltd.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Aslan, A., & Reigeluth, C.M. (2013). Educational technologists: Leading change for a new paradigm of education. TechTrends, 57(5), 18–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beer, S. (1974). Designing freedom. Toronto: House of Anansi Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beer, S. (1981a). Brain of the firm. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beer, S. (1981b). Diagnosing the system for organisations. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beer, S. (1983). The will of the people. The Journal of the Operational Research Society, 34(8), 797–810.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beer, S. (1984). The viable system model: Its provenance, development, methodology and pathology. In R. Espejo, & R. Harnden (Eds.) The viable system model (pp. 11–37). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

  • Bergold, J., & Thomas, S. (2012). Participatory research methods: A methodological approach in motion. Historical Social Research/Historische Sozialforschung, 13(1), 191–222.

    Google Scholar 

  • Creswell, J.W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cuban, L. (1986). Teachers and machines: The classroom use of technology since 1920. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Danermark, B., Ekström, M., Karlsson, J. (2019). Explaining society: Critical realism in the social sciences. London: Routledge.

  • Davidson, J. (2003). A new role in facilitating school reform: The case of the educational technologist. Teachers College Record, 105(5), 729–752.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, P. (2010). On school educational technology leadership. Management in Education, 24(2), 55–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duchastel, P.C. (1978). Illustrating instructional texts. Educational Technology, 18(11), 36–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisenhardt, K.M., & Graebner, M.E. (2007). Theory building from cases: Opportunities and challenges. Academy of Management Journal, 50(1), 25–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flyvbjerg, B. (2001). Making social science matter: Why social inquiry fails and how it can succeed again. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Fox, O., & Sumner, N. (2014). Analyzing the roles, activities, and skills of learning technologists: A case study from city university london. American Journal of Distance Education, 28(2), 92–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glaser, B., & Strauss, A. (2013). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, E., & Friesen, N. (2013). Online education: A science and technology studies perspective/Éducation en ligne: Perspective des études en science et technologie. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology/La revue canadienne de l’apprentissage et de la technologie, 39(2), 1–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartley, J., & Benington, J. (2000). Co-research: A new methodology for new times. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 9(4), 463–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henderson, M., Henderson, M.J., Romeo, G. (Eds.). (2015). Teaching and digital technologies: Big issues and critical questions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Imzirli, O.S., & Kurt, A. (2009). Basic competencies of instructional technologists. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 1(1), 998–1002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, M. (2019). Uncertain education. technology and higher learning through a cybernetic lens. Blurb.

  • Johnson, M., & Liber, O. (2008). The personal learning environment and the human condition: From theory to teaching practice. Interactive Learning Environments, 16(1), 3–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kowch, E.G. (2005). Do we plan the journey or read the compass? an argument for preparing educational technologists to lead organisational change. British Journal of Educational Technology, 36(6), 1067–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leonard, A. (1999). To change ourselves: A personal vsm application. (Retrieved from: https://web.archive.org/web/20150205152907/http://allennaleonard.com/PersVSM.html, Accessed 20 June 2019).

  • Leoste, J., & Heidmets, M. (2019). Factors influencing the sustainability of robot supported math learning in basic school. robot 2019: Fourth iberian robotics conference: Advances in robotics.

  • Lorenz, B., Kikkas, K., Laanpere, M. (2014). The role of educational technologist in implementing new technologies at school. In Lecture notes in computer science learning and collaboration technologies. technology-rich environments for learning and collaboration (pp. 288–296). Berlin: Springer.

  • Mayes, R., Natividad, G., Spector, J. (2015). Challenges for educational technologists in the 21st century. Education Sciences, 5(3), 221–237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, P.D. (1975). The discernible educational technologist. Programmed Learning and Educational Technology, 12(5), 306–325.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oliver, M. (2013). Learning technology: Theorising the tools we study. British Journal of Educational Technology, 44(1), 31–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orengo, M. (2016). Theoretical notes regarding the practical application of stafford beer’s viable system model. Kybernetes, 47(2), 262–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Papert, S. (1987). Information technology and education: Computer criticism vs. technocentric thinking. Educational researcher, 16(1), 22–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Polycom. (2011). Music performance and instruction over high-speed networks. (Retrieved from: https://www.broadconnect.ca/resource-centre/whitepapers/video-conferencing/music-performance-and-instruction-overhighspeed-networks.pdf, Accessed 20 June 2019).

  • Ritzhaupt, A., Martin, F., Pastore, R., Kang, Y. (2018). Development and validation of the educational technologist competencies survey (etcs): Knowledge, skills, and abilities. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 30(1), 3–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Selwyn, N. (2011). Editorial: In praise of pessimism – the need for negativity ineducational technology. British Journal of Educational Technology, 42(5), 713–718.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Selwyn, N. (2016). Making sense of technology and educational change in education and technology: Key issues and debates. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siggelkow, N. (2007). Persuasion with case studies. academy of management journal. Sociological Theory, 50(1), 20–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slack, C.W. (1968). Who is the educational technologist, and where is he? Educational Technology Publications.

  • Tennyson, R.D. (2001). Defining core competencies of an instructional technologist. Computers in Human Behavior, 17, 355–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Timmermans, S., & Tavory, I. (2012). Theory construction in qualitative research: From grounded theory to abductive analysis. Sociological Theory, 30(3), 167–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wei-Chen Hung, W.-C., & Jeng, I. (2013). Factors influencing future educational technologists’ intentions to participate in online teaching. British Journal of Educational Technology, 44(2), 255–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winner, L. (1987). The whale and the reactor: A search for limits in an age of high technology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Witte, J. (2007). Why the tail wags the dog: The pernicious influence of product-oriented discourse on the provision of educational technology support. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 27, 203–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yin, R.K. (2019). Case studies: Design and methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Educational Technology, Institute of Education, University of Tartu, 1a Salme St, 50103, Tartu, Estonia

    Emanuele Bardone & Irene-Angelica Chounta

  2. Tartu Heino Eller Music College, Tartu, Estonia

    Tony Tonni

Authors
  1. Emanuele Bardone
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tony Tonni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Irene-Angelica Chounta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Emanuele Bardone.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Appendix: Types of data collected in remote lessons

Appendix: Types of data collected in remote lessons

Lesson

4/10

3/11

17/11

12/01

26/01

2/02

9/03

21/03

31/03

6/04

13/04

Observation

x

x

 

x

x

x

 

x

x

x

x

Participant comments

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Photos

x

x

 

x

x

x

 

x

x

x

x

Video clips

x

x

 

x

x

  

x

x

 

x

Full lesson video rec.

   

x

x

x

x

 

x

x

x

Setup spec.

x

x

x

x

x

x

 

x

x

x

x

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bardone, E., Tonni, T. & Chounta, IA. The educational technologist as a variety-handler. Educ Inf Technol 25, 4015–4040 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-019-10091-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-019-10091-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation