The teleological reason why ICTs limit choice for learners and learning
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Transcript of The teleological reason why ICTs limit choice for learners and learning
The teleological reason why ICT limits choice for
university learners and learning
David Jones & Nona Muldoon
Work in progress
• 1st draft of idea for conference paper• Need and want ideas and suggestions
• LMS/CMS - the same
http://cq-pan.cqu.edu.au/david-jones/
Proposition
The informed use of ICT by institutions and their teachers supports flexibility and choice in what is to be learned, how it is learned, when it is learned and how it will be assessed.
http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/singapore07/
• Do ICTs support flexibility and choice?
• Teleological design
• How teleological design limits flexibility and choice
• Implications for universities
Overview
• Do ICTs support flexibility and choice?
• Teleological design
• How teleological design limits flexibility and choice
• Implications for universities
Overview
• Examine literature for evidence
• Look for it at 4 Levels– Institutional– System– Adoption– Use
Evidence for choice
• Look for it at 4 Levels– Institutional– System– Adoption– Use
Evidence for choice
Most Australian universities are the same, or at least aim to be
Back in the late 1980s universities were forced into a one-size-fits-all mould…
The need for diversity is obvious…..
Our system, by contrast, appears almost monochrome….
Institutional
(Bishop, 2006)
• Look for it at 4 Levels– Institutional– System– Adoption– Use
Evidence for choice
Everyone is using the same - type of system (LMS)- two or three LMSes
the WebCT and Blackboard brands have a clear market dominance…used at three quarters of Australia’s 39 universities.
no obvious patterns of brand selection in terms of university characteristics
somewhat surprising in a sector which claims to strive for diversity and innovation.
Choice in systems?
(Coates, James, et al. 2005)
(in 2002)
As of 2005 almost every higher education institution (HEI) is planning to make use of an LMS
Despite the majority of the perceived drivers for LMS being contestable, the perceived requirement for a central LMS seems to be entrenched in the mindset of the university sector.
Choice in systems?
(Salmon, 2005)
(Wise and Quealy, 2005)
it is surprising just how quickly the CMS strategy has taken hold of higher institutions, which are usually known for their grip on traditional forms of teaching and for their reluctance towards change.
Choice in systems?
(West, Waddoups et al. 2006)
• Look for it at 4 Levels– Institutional– System– Adoption– Use
Evidence for choice
Still somewhat patchy and limited
Vodanovich and Piotrowski (2005)– 74% faculty positive to use of Internet– 70% view e-learning as effective– 47% actually use it
Adoption
Best practice implementations report no more than 55% staff adoption rates
56.7% CQU T2, 2006 courses had course sites
(Sausner, 2005)
• Look for it at 4 Levels– Institutional– System– Adoption– Use
Evidence for choice
The vast majority is old wine in new skins
the vast majority of online courses to be taught in the same manner as their traditional equivalents.
with a few exceptions, almost all have adopted an approach where the LMS has been substituted for existing media and where existing pedagogy has been retained
Choice in pedagogy
(Salmon, 2005)
(Twigg, 2001)
universities primarily use LMS for administrative purposes, and have had a limited impact on pedagogy (OECD, 2005)
Use of the LMS for learning, for the most part, seemed to involve fairly unsophisticated use of the tools available, and in some cases it was used primarily to provide access to information, rather than to engage students directly in an online learning environment.
Choice in pedagogy
(Benson and Palaskas, 2006)
Current research has shown that faculty members use these systems primarily to transmit course documents to students in resident courses (Ansorge & Bendus, 2003; Dutton, Cheong, & Park, 2004; Morgan, 2003; Woods, Baker, & Hopper, 2004; Malikowski, Thompson et al. 2006)
Choice in pedagogy
The data suggest CQU is seeking to use LMS technology mainly as a content delivery mechanism.
On average 23.7 documents embedded - max of 165
Choice in pedagogy
(Gonch, 2007)
CQU - T2, 2006
010
20304050
607080
90100
Content Discussion OASM Quizzes Group Work
% Course sites
(Gonch, 2007)
.9 posts/student
• Does ICTs support flexibility and choice?
• Teleological design
• How teleological design limits flexibility and choice
• Implications for universities
Overview
Teleological Design
To be teleological is to set and achieve objectives, it is to be purpose driven…
Setting goals and achieving them is the essence of "success" in the teleological society
(Introna, 1996)
Strategic Goals
Operational Plans
Working parties
Quality assurance
• An unnoticed epistemological foundation
What's wrong with that?
By adopting a single domineering concept of method all our thinking…becomes imprisoned by this one concept…..It limits not only our understanding, but our empirical observations….can cause us to ignore activities that do not fit within a methodical frame
(Truex, Baskerville et al. 2000)
• "Herding cats" is a metaphor often used to describe "management" tasks at universities (and elsewhere)
Herding cats
(Brennan, Miller et al. 2001; Butler, 1997; Parise, 2000; Hort, 1997; Bennis, 1998)
Which is more frustrating: achieving institutional change or herding cats?
Herding cats - Managing higher education
Managing people is like herding cats
Teleological Design
QuickTime™ and aYUV420 codec decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Herding Cats - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk7yqlTMvp8
Design process attributes
Attributes TeleologicalUltimate purpose Goal/purpose
Intermediate goals Efficiency
Design focus Results
Designers Explicit designer
Scope Part
Process Problem solving
Problems Complexity/conflict
Management Centralised
Control Master plan
(Introna, 1996)
Design process attributes
Attributes TeleologicalUltimate purpose Goal/purpose
Intermediate goals Efficiency
Design focus Results
Designers Explicit designer
Scope Part
Process Problem solving
Problems Complexity/conflict
Management Centralised
Control Master plan
Cattle BaronDecides cats have to get to townCattle BaronDecides cats have to get to town
Design process attributes
Attributes TeleologicalUltimate purpose Goal/purpose
Intermediate goals Efficiency
Design focus Results
Designers Explicit designer
Scope Part
Process Problem solving
Problems Complexity/conflict
Management Centralised
Control Master plan
Get the cattle there as cheaplyas possibleGet the cattle there as cheaplyas possible
Design process attributes
Attributes TeleologicalUltimate purpose Goal/purpose
Intermediate goals Efficiency
Design focus Results
Designers Explicit designer
Scope Part
Process Problem solving
Problems Complexity/conflict
Management Centralised
Control Master plan
All focus is on getting them totown - ends justify the meansAll focus is on getting them totown - ends justify the means
Design process attributes
Attributes TeleologicalUltimate purpose Goal/purpose
Intermediate goals Efficiency
Design focus Results
Designers Explicit designer
Scope Part
Process Problem solving
Problems Complexity/conflict
Management Centralised
Control Master plan
The cat herders are the designers - how to achieve purpose?The cat herders are the designers - how to achieve purpose?
Design process attributes
Attributes TeleologicalUltimate purpose Goal/purpose
Intermediate goals Efficiency
Design focus Results
Designers Explicit designer
Scope Part
Process Problem solving
Problems Complexity/conflict
Management Centralised
Control Master plan
Each will focus on part of the problem - e.g. the cook, out riders etc.
Each will focus on part of the problem - e.g. the cook, out riders etc.
Design process attributes
Attributes TeleologicalUltimate purpose Goal/purpose
Intermediate goals Efficiency
Design focus Results
Designers Explicit designer
Scope Part
Process Problem solving
Problems Complexity/conflict
Management Centralised
Control Master plan
We're "here", purpose is to get "there"How to solve that problem?We're "here", purpose is to get "there"How to solve that problem?
Design process attributes
Attributes TeleologicalUltimate purpose Goal/purpose
Intermediate goals Efficiency
Design focus Results
Designers Explicit designer
Scope Part
Process Problem solving
Problems Complexity/conflict
Management Centralised
Control Master plan
Cat's don't agree with purpose.Cat herders must deal with that conflict and the complexity- Seen as heroic
Cat's don't agree with purpose.Cat herders must deal with that conflict and the complexity- Seen as heroic
Design process attributes
Attributes TeleologicalUltimate purpose Goal/purpose
Intermediate goals Efficiency
Design focus Results
Designers Explicit designer
Scope Part
Process Problem solving
Problems Complexity/conflict
Management Centralised
Control Master plan
All decisions reside with the "boss" cat herderAll decisions reside with the "boss" cat herder
Design process attributes
Attributes TeleologicalUltimate purpose Goal/purpose
Intermediate goals Efficiency
Design focus Results
Designers Explicit designer
Scope Part
Process Problem solving
Problems Complexity/conflict
Management Centralised
Control Master plan
All decisions reside with the "boss" cat herder.And are made in line with the master plan - get to town.Through application of rational thought.
All decisions reside with the "boss" cat herder.And are made in line with the master plan - get to town.Through application of rational thought.
• Does ICTs support flexibility and choice?
• Teleological design
• How teleological design limits flexibility and choice
• Implications for universities
Overview
Teleological limits
Attributes TeleologicalUltimate purpose Goal/purpose
Intermediate goals Efficiency
Design focus Results
Designers Explicit designer
Scope Part
Process Problem solving
Problems Complexity/conflict
Management Centralised
Control Master plan
• BUFD and context mismatch
• Fads and Fashions
• Purpose proxies
• Purpose of a LMS
Purpose limits choice
• Teleological relies on BUFD– Big Up Front Design
Purpose limits choice
(Truex et al. 1999, p119)
• Assumes long period of stable usage to cover BUFD costs
Stable context assumption
(Truex et al. 1999, p119)
In order to teleological development..certain requirements…must be met
• Systems behavior must be relatively stable and predictable
Stable context assumption
(Introna, 1996)
Information technology is in a state of perpetual innovation (Tapscott, 1996)
institutions that can continually change, keeping up with the needs of the transforming economy they serve, will surive. Those that cannot or will not change will become irrelevant (Klor de Alva, 2000)
Uncertainty about the future and other developments highlight the importance of building institutions that are responsive to change. (CRHEFP, 1997)The ever-accelerating tempo of
digital technology poses great challenges to institutions….When the power for a given price doubles every 18 months of less, rapid obsolescence disrupts conventional infrastructure planning processes (Duderstadt et al, 2002)
There can be no doubt that universities operate in a continuously changing environment. It is how they, as an organisation, respond to the changes that determines their legitimacy and relevance going forward.-- CQU Strategic Plan: 2006-2011
Matching needs?
Formationof need
Analysis& design
Implementation Operation
Degree of compliance of IS requirementswith business needs
(Stamoulis et al, 1998, pp 1012)
Matching needs?
Formationof need
Analysis& design
Implementation Operation
Degree of compliance of IS requirementswith business needs
• BUFD and context mismatch
• Fads and Fashions
• Purpose proxies
• Purpose of a LMS
Purpose limits choice
Management fashion is "relatively transitory collective beliefs, disseminated by the discourse of knowledge entrepreneurs, that a management technique is at the forefront of rational management progress”
Amplified by hyperbole…, the fashionable vision may exert a strong, if transitory, normative pull among managers.
Fads and fasions
(Swanson and Ramiller, 2004)
(Abrahamson and Fairchild, 2004)
In providing sweeping legitimacy to an IT innovation, however transiently so, a bandwagon can in effect legitimize the exercise of mindlessness.
Mindlessness can therefore be rendered socially and politically acceptable, to some degree, in innovating with IT.
Fads and fasions
(Swanson and Ramiller, 2004)
Fads and fasions
Even though the perceived drivers for CMS are contestable, the perceived need for a CMS seems to be entrenched in the higher education sector
(Wise and Quealy, 2006)
• BUFD and context mismatch
• Fads and Fashions
• Purpose proxies
• Purpose of a LMS
Purpose limits choice
Purpose proxies
What's the e-learning question?
How best to do e-learning?
OR
Which LMS is "best"?
Purpose proxies
CQU's answer
Learning Management System Working Party
• BUFD and context mismatch
• Fads and Fashions
• Purpose proxies
• Purpose of a LMS
Purpose limits choice
Technological tools and instruments are never value-neutral but rather teeming with values and potentialities, which may cause unexpected responses.
LMS Purpose
(Westera, 2004)
• Based on USA higher education
• Course offering based
• Closed from outside world
• Web-based
• All applications on uni server
• Only handle courses with 999 students
LMS Values
Rather than being of itself liberating or empowering technology serves whichever goals motivate the people guiding its design and use.
LMS Purpose
(Lian, 2000)
Teleological limits
Attributes TeleologicalUltimate purpose Goal/purpose
Intermediate goals Efficiency
Design focus Results
Designers Explicit designer
Scope Part
Process Problem solving
Problems Complexity/conflict
Management Centralised
Control Master plan
• Efficiency limits experimentation
• Encourages "add-on" online learning
Efficency limits choice
Efficiency
(Introna, 1996)
Behaviour that does not directly contribute to the….[purpose]….is inefficient and ineffective.
Efficiency
(Dutton and Loader, 2002)
Even when individual educators embrace new technology institutional arrangements and policies in education such as institutional incentive structures, copyright and intellectual property rights constrain more innovative uses of e-learning.
Prevents experimentation
• Experimentation does not achieve purpose
• Not encouraged
• Means can't expand the scope of actions
• Limits flexibility and choice
• Efficiency limits experimentation
• Encourages "add-on" online learning
Efficency limits choice
By 2005 the dominant mode of e-learning to which higher education institutions (HEIs) aspire is the integration of online components into their traditional face-to-face approaches, often called blended learning
Efficency limits choice
(Salmon, 2005)
• Online "add-on" to f-t-f
• Two problems1. Obstruction of good instructional design
2. Poor skills base
• Obstacle to effective and efficient online learning
Blended is "add-on"
(Teghe and Knight, 2004)
Teleological Limits
Attributes TeleologicalUltimate purpose Goal/purpose
Intermediate goals Efficiency
Design focus Results
Designers Explicit designer
Scope Part
Process Problem solving
Problems Complexity/conflict
Management Centralised
Control Master plan
Each will focus on part of the problem - e.g. the cook, out riders etc.
Each will focus on part of the problem - e.g. the cook, out riders etc.
Top-down design
Blackboard
FacultiesDTLSITDStudent admin
Students
Reductionist decomposition is problematic because the isoloation of components is an imaginary process, and the resulting components do not reflect the rich interdependencies in organisational reality.
Top-down problem
(Truex, Baskerville et al. 2000)
Focus on part
Blackboard
FacultiesDTLSITDStudent admin
Students
Give 1000s SEs/DEs
Focus on part
Blackboard
FacultiesDTLSITDStudent admin
Students
Can't login to coursesite to study
Focus on part
Blackboard
FacultiesDTLSITDStudent admin
Students
Complain to coursecoordinator
Focus on part
Blackboard
FacultiesDTLSITDStudent admin
Students
Mention it to theADL&T
Focus on part
Blackboard
FacultiesDTLSITDStudent admin
Students
It's a Blackboardproblem, DTLS?
Focus on part
Blackboard
FacultiesDTLSITDStudent admin
Students
It's a Sys Adminproblem!
Focus on part
Blackboard
FacultiesDTLSITDStudent admin
Students
No it's withpeoplesoft
Focus on part
Blackboard
FacultiesDTLSITDStudent admin
Students
It's because of a ruleset by StudAdmin
Focus on part
Blackboard
FacultiesDTLSITDStudent admin
StudentsCan't wait for thatto be changed
Focus on part
Blackboard
FacultiesDTLSITDStudent admin
StudentsWe can do thisfix
Focus on part
Blackboard
FacultiesDTLSITDStudent admin
StudentsMost of the DEs/Seshave been sat
The continued selection of goals and continued convergence of behaviour thus creates a system that loses its ability to understand/comprehend the whole
Top-down problem
(Introna, 1996)
Solve part of the problem
• To hard to solve the whole
• Each part focuses on their purpose
• Contributes to– "Autism" of information technology support– Limited discussion across parts– Divergent systems
A university is defined by the quality of its academic conversations, not by the techologies that service them.(Laurillard, 2002)
Teleological Limits
Attributes TeleologicalUltimate purpose Goal/purpose
Intermediate goals Efficiency
Design focus Results
Designers Explicit designer
Scope Part
Process Problem solving
Problems Complexity/conflict
Management Centralised
Control Master plan
We're "here", purpose is to get "there"How to solve that problem?We're "here", purpose is to get "there"How to solve that problem?
…planned change models, with their emphasis on rationality, linearity, and clarity of purpose..
Rationality
(Kezar, 2000)
…planned change models, with their emphasis on rationality, linearity, and clarity of purpose are unlikely to be successful within the higher education system.
Rationality
(Kezar, 2000)
Rather than being a rational, purposive, and goal-driven process, information systems development is subject to human whims, talents and the personal goals of the actors involved.
Rationality
(Truex, Baskerville et al. 2000)
Cognitive biases
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases
Bandwagon effectTendency to do things because many others do the same
Bandwagon effectTendency to do things because many others do the same
Deformation professionnelleTendency to to look at things through the conventions of your profession
Deformation professionnelleTendency to to look at things through the conventions of your professionIllusion of control
Tendency to believe you can control outcomes that you cannot
Illusion of controlTendency to believe you can control outcomes that you cannot
Status quo biasTendency to like things to stay relatively the same
Status quo biasTendency to like things to stay relatively the same
Post-purchase rationalisationTendency to persuade oneself that a purchase was good value
Post-purchase rationalisationTendency to persuade oneself that a purchase was good value
..strongly feels that the Blackboard product has the best overall technical fit and provides the best opportunity available to meet our tactical needs while minimizing support problems and costs.
Rationality at work
(LMS Technical Working group, 2003)
An alternate view
0
28
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
BlackboardWebfuse
Number of terms LMS used on CQU technical infrastructure
..CQU working with a less stable product….software unfortunately became less stable. CQU staff….assumption that the current LMS would only require similar levels of support to the prior one…..the software had persistent problems….As an organisation CQU was unable to respond to the challenge raised.
What happened
(CQU, 2004)
Teleological Limits
Attributes TeleologicalUltimate purpose Goal/purpose
Intermediate goals Efficiency
Design focus Results
Designers Explicit designer
Scope Part
Process Problem solving
Problems Complexity/conflict
Management Centralised
Control Master plan
• Loss of complexity
• Starvation - indefinite postponement
• Conflict wastes energy
Central planning limitations
Centralised Management
ITUC
FacultiesDTLSITDStudent admin
StudentsIT Plan
Centralised Management
ITUC
FacultiesDTLSITDStudent admin
StudentsIT Plan
I have an idea/problem
Centralised Management
ITUC
FacultiesDTLSITDStudent admin
StudentsIT Plan
Tell the boss
Centralised Management
ITUC
FacultiesDTLSITDStudent admin
StudentsIT Plan
She'll tell the boss' boss
Centralised Management
ITUC
FacultiesDTLSITDStudent admin
StudentsIT Plan
Rep will take it to ITUC
Centralised Management
ITUC
FacultiesDTLSITDStudent admin
StudentsIT Plan
At every stage there is a filter
Centralised Management
ITUC
FacultiesDTLSITDStudent admin
StudentsIT Plan
Lot's of competing alternatives
Centralised Management
ITUC
FacultiesDTLSITDStudent admin
StudentsIT Plan
What about the students?
• Loss of complexity
• Starvation - indefinite postponement
• Conflict wastes energy
Central planning limitations
While recognising that the investment in the People Soft ERP system is a necessary pre cursor to expansion of flexible learning to multiple geographies, the significant investment in this system has concentrated attention away from core teaching and learning applications.
The Bottleneck
(CQU, 2001)
• Loss of complexity
• Starvation - indefinite postponement
• Conflict wastes energy
Central planning limitations
In the teleological view the belief exists that if one could select the "right" set of goals then eventually the whole should benefit.
Who judges "right"?
Problem - conflict
(Introna, 1996)
A great deal of the system's energy is spent trying to resolve internal conflict.
Problem - conflict
(Introna, 1996)
A comment by one of the technical group suggesting that we should change people's behaviour because information technology systems are difficult to change..
Change people not tech.
(Sturgess and Nouwens, 2004)
Social systems cannot be "designed" and developed in any teleological or methodological sense, as is possible with technical systems. Social systems can at most be indirectly influenced.
Change people not tech.
(Introna, 1996)
• Does ICTs support flexibility and choice?
• Teleological design
• How teleological design limits flexibility and choice
• Implications for universities
Overview
• Teleological is inappropriate
• There is another extreme
• A happy medium might be better
• It's not a question of which LMS
Implications
The unique characteristics of higher education are in conflict with the assumptions of teleological models, which assume a clear vision, unambiguous plans, a decision-making chain of command, clear delegation of responsibility, decisions based on facts, and rationality
Down with teleological
(Kezar, 2000)
The committee recognized that different campus cultures and the lack of a single, unified vision for online teaching and learning – probably impossible at an institution of this size – work against a single tool being “best” across the board.
Down with teleological
(UF CMSAG, 2003)
• Teleological is inappropriate
• There is another extreme
• A happy medium might be better
• It's not a question of which LMS
Implications
Design Extremes
Attributes Teleological Ateleological
Ultimate purpose Goal/purpose Harmony
Intermediate goals Effect/Efficiency Homeostasis
Design focus Ends/results Means/process
Designers Explicit designer Participant
Scope Part Whole
Process Problem solving Local adaptation
Problems Complexity/conflict Time
Management Centralised Decentralised
Control Master plan Rules/regulators
Related work
Research-based principles for change (Kezar, 2001)
• Promote organisational self-discovery• Focus on adaptability• Construct opportunities for interaction• Strive to create homeostasis• Combine teleological with social-cognition,
cultural and political strategies
Problems
• Teleological design is seen as the only approach
• All professional training ignores alternatives
Adopting a single domineering concept…our thinking…becomes imprisoned by this one concept…[it] is not only our way of thinking about systems development, it is our way of thinking about "thinking about systems development"
(Truex, Baskerville et al. 2000)
Alternatives are dismissed
• Teleological is inappropriate
• There is another extreme
• A happy medium might be better
• It's not a question of which LMS
Implications
• ICTs in higher ed use primarly teleological design
• This limits choice and flexibility for learners and learning
• Adding in ateleological components is required
Conclusions