In Hayashi and Baranauskas (2013), the researchers investigate the impact of digital assets on student interest and the effect on the quality of the learning environment. The effort includes a qualitative research investigation to inquire about the student user experience with new technology and its effects on learning scenarios. The study population includes more than 500 individuals associated with an elementary school in Campinas, Brazil. The study results indicate that the introduction of digital assists, in this case, the XO educational laptop, can improve the learning experience by combining an institution's formal and informal practices. Most importantly, the exercises indicate that integrating technology into a learning environment is influenced by the participants' culture and values. The outcome leads to this discussion on the sociotechnical plan leveraged by the study.
The authors define three distinct types of learning as a basis for the sociotechnical plan. First, formal learning are the educational practices that occur within the school itself. Second, informal learning is the knowledge gleaned outside of the school, within an individual's casual environments. Lastly, non-formal learning takes place outside of the school setting but with the intent for deliberate learning. These meanings help identify an opportunity for technology inclusion with less distribution. The ultimate goal is to integrate technology into learning environments without investing significant time and effort in the technology itself, but rather leverage the tools as learning aids (Hayashi & Baranauskas, 2013).
The sociotechnical perspective focuses on the implicit inclusion of technology offerings as part of the natural learning curriculum. Since technology is unbounded by space, time, or facilitators, informal learning streams become present in formal settings. Technological devices are conduits to much more information than available in formal learning settings across various devices and delivery formats. However, a learning culture must consume technology as an asset to understand how the organization functions fully. Integrating technology into the modern formal learning environment must be purposeful and embracing, rather than viewing the assets as foreign objects (Hayashi & Baranauskas, 2013).
A cognitive model helps influence transformative change within a system, focusing on how social and cultural impact learning and decision-making. Culture, specifically, is influential to learning as it brings together multiple dynamics of an integrated environment, including lifestyle, behavior, and perspectives. Technology is a significant driver in shaping or changing culture and form the basis for a sociotechnical plan. Cultural conventions are categorized as formal, informal, and technical, but in contrast to learning methods, the conventions operate together, with all three present in any given situation. While analysis of the individual parts is critical to understanding, the sum of the parts embodies the actual value (Hayashi & Baranauskas, 2013).
The Semiotic Onion is a representative model of how each method contributes to the overall system. The outmost ring consists of the informal convention, where meanings, intentions, beliefs, and commitments materialize in unstructured ways (Hayashi & Baranauskas, 2013). The formal convention, a subset of the informal convention, includes legislation, governance, and authority. Lastly, the technical convention, a subset of the formal convention, provides tools and processes for automating the formal convention. The model continuously improves as the design iteratively adjusts across all three conventions. The practice of ethnography in design is common elsewhere, such as design science (Hevner & Chatterjee, 2010).
Technology is no longer an alternative utility to executing tasks but rather a staple in today's modern culture. Technology is present everywhere, providing automation, information, and socialization within our culture. Extending technology into a learning environment requires consideration of Affectibility, which is the holistic collection of attributes that strengthen or weaken a system. The practice of measuring Affectibility serves as the feedback mechanism for system transformation (Hayashi & Baranauskas, 2013).
The case study evaluates the effect of introducing laptop computers to each Semiotic Onion convention as it applies to the learning environment. The results include the following.
1)
Informal
a.
The majority of parents in the environment are
unable to use the technology nor help the student
b.
Instructors are less likely to work with
technology they have no mastery
2)
Formal
a.
Availability of laptops outside of school is
not consistent due to fear of loss or theft
b.
Some instructors fear integrated activities
would diverge from the predetermined curriculum
3)
Technical
a. Obstacles include the laptops' interactiveness, lack of consistent internet connectivity, differing user experiences, and ample accessories
The study's outcome highlights each layer's importance within the sociotechnical model, formal, informal, and technical (Scacchi, 2004). A successful transformation when introducing new technology must account for the balance between layers, the intersection points, and continuous design. Affectibililty helps evaluate progress, provides feedback, and drives change to the model. While this case study focuses on a specific environment and uses case, the contribution is much more significant, providing a basis for sociotechnical change in other environments.
References
Hayashi, E., & Baranauskas, M. C. (2013). Affectibility in educational technologies: A sociotechnical perspective for design. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 16(1), 57-68. http://eurydice.nied.unicamp.br/portais/ecoweb/nied/ecoweb/publicacoes/artigos-em-revistas/affectibility-in-educational-technologies-a-socio-technical-perspective-for-design.1.pdf
Hevner, A., & Chatterjee, S. (2010). Design science research in information systems. In Design research in information systems (pp. 9-22). Springer.
Scacchi,
W. (2004). Sociotechnical design. The
encyclopedia of human-computer interaction, 1, 656-659. http://www.ics.uci.edu/~wscacchi/Papers/SE-Encyc/Socio-Technical-Design.pdf
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