The Sociotechnical System

 The assignment for this week is based on reviewing “Affectability in educational technologies” by Hayashi and Baranauskas. A socio-technical system is simply a system that entails combining technology with the social aspect of life and the culture of a group of people. Hayashi and Baranauskas (2013) discuss how culture plays a massive role in the use of technology.  Culture shapes people, and it varies from person to person, as it is a productive phenomenon. Hayashi and Baranauskas further wrote about how Hall acknowledges the presence of formal, informal, and technical classifications of how humans operate in any given scenario but in different capacities due to their differences. Therefore, Technology use can influence and could be influenced by culture. “The socio-technical approach enlarges the scope of learning settings, moving from perspectives based on place (i.e. inside and outside the school) to a perspective that considers informal, formal, and technical aspects of the school context” (Hayashi & Baranauskas, 2013). Therefore, a socio-technical system could be defined as a system that integrates people, their culture, and their social lifestyle with the use of technology.

Hayashi and Baranauskas discuss how technology bridged the gap between formal and informal learning settings. It is generally believed that formal education must be within the school walls, while informal is always outside the school. This belief was negated when Padre Emílio Miotti School in Brazil was introduced to the use of technology through the XO project in 2010.  The OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) organization donated some laptops to the school, as many as could go round the teachers and most of the students. 

To prove the effects of the sociotechnical system in an education environment, some data were collected through participant observation and Semio-participatory Workshops (SpW). Four scenarios were tested: Transforming homework assignments, Integrating the School in Interdisciplinary Activities, XO inside and outside the school’s wall, and Student Volunteers. The different case study enables the students to take the laptop home and do their work as if they were still within the school’s walls. Some homework was even extended to the classroom. Instead of the student writing what their parents told them, they had the opportunity to research on their own and got pleasing answers.

Although, the program had some hiccups due to the social and environmental constraints that ranged from the attitude of the teachers towards the change to a lack of enough support technicians. All these were taken care of by having a workaround that made the social aspect and culture work together with the technology for the success of those students. 

 

 

 

References

 

Hayashi, E. C. S., & Baranauskas, M. C. C. (2013). Affectibility in Educational Technologies: A Socio-Technical Perspective for Design. Educational technology & society, 16(1), 57-68. http://coloradotechonline.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/link/0/eLvHCXMwrV1Nb9QwEB2V9oKEgAJVF9rKggOnlMSOkxgJVYFuVVaiqlo4wMXyJxSJbNndHrjw2_E4TgpF4sQ1tpVEM5m8sd-8AWB0P89uxASqja6509oHK9vG09z7ilpmA5oVVaTqvPvIZm05O64_rcHZUBqTzD1EyRi67dzgrvmLAs_oqOCsPLj8nmEfKTxvHZpqqNRswb4KKUPdiFuwgeibr8PG6-nJ6dmYleHJYN-BpcpQTH0kPqcQ3dMU_wrV8f9zdA9-Do-KItMLZVFc4cv-hf02llPf0Hf8v691H-4m5Era3tU2Yc11D7DpcyKIPITzNnJDerrtD3LRkXEwrBv38ENq_pK0JFbKZPEq-gk5va76JAFIk8NILXkEH46m798cZ6lnQ-ZYXq4ybirHreK6cDXzwjgjKNfW2AAURAgglWh0XVBTuiYgtdywgGe8QJfwjbYB62zBHYXc_m4VawDtNpCwztCKM8tQgI15ndfeKl3ygDcMU2ICW2gxednrc8jpDLckGKsm8BRtKFHnokMizWd1tVzKt-cnsmU0b8oQsMoJPE-T_Hy1UEaluoR551Aa64-Zz6IvjDf6iuq6aG_8kGRRyULyegI7g11ligdLeW3Ux_8efgK3aWy4gZs8O7C-Wly5Xdj83bl6CZW95Md7IQM4nP0CrWwNXw