I had a conversation with a classmate of mine recently, discussing various issues of interest at our school, the university at large, and educational technology in general. We quickly moved from the specific – technology that we have seen implemented ourselves – to the general.
We spoke, essentially, about how one must approach educational technology. Academic Computing, academic technology, instructional technology – they all refer to the same thing. Servers, switches, computers, projectors, even dry-erase boards and the types of walls that surround a room – any kind of technology, hardware, software or otherwise, used to improve teaching and learning.
This topic has come up a bit since I completed by MBA, as well. People ask me what my plans are next. I have no intentions of leaving my current job for the time-being, but it has put a renewed emphasis on what it is I want to accomplish in my job.
What drives me is, in one way, the desire to fight complacency. The flip side of fighting complacency, of course, is the pursuit of innovation, to ask why and why not at the same time, and to always pursue the best, even when better will do.
I hope that I will be able to stick to this path. I hope that I will not succumb to complacency, losing my desire to always pursue the continued improvement of services and tools that the students, faculty, and staff at the school can use.
Not quite the post I wanted it to be, but it gets to the point…