Learning technologists found their familiar (and somewhat clunky) edtech usurped, by corporate conference platforms, during ERT. Zoom & MS Teams slipped onto campus at a speed and scale that was beyond what we ever thought likely or possible. This decision to adopt these particular conferencing platforms was clearly driven by the pivot to remote teaching. But we also have known, for awhile, that the pace of tech adoption is speeding up. Whether it be cell phones, smartphones, social media, tablets etc.
A “transmogrifier” is an incredible (carboard) box that automatically restructures and instantly configures the user who enters it, at a push of a button. Calvin & Hobbes have extensive experience in its effects!The pace at which conferencing platforms were acquired and used was blisteringly quick. I’d like to suggest a new term might describe the nature (scale, speed and pervasiveness) of this particular change. I’ve come to like the descriptive word, popularized by Bill Watterson, transmogrification, as a description of this type of technology led change.
Zoom grew as a result of an urgent need to ramp up connection and provision, in a very short time. To simplify the delivery, a boilerplate classroom with standardized features that could be quickly used for remote teaching was offered. An adaptable technology, equipped with recognizable pedagogical patterns that cued teachers’ behaviors. A template to be applied into a class. Without much thought or preparation. Much like pre-fab classrooms were built, when school numbers exceeded capacity. Just quicker. The pandemic and platforms led to a proliferation of modularized spaces, that we called zoom classes. There wasn’t much time was available to consider pedagogy or fitness for purpose.
But it wasn’t only teaching or the classroom that was transformed and modified. Many of these arrangement were initiated and established by procurement acting on instruction. The professional judgement of those who are within the field, who would normally provide a risk assessment on the appropriateness of the arrangement, was not considered. And it seems if management, and not IT staff, ed techies or academic staff, were involved in the procurement, testing and implementation.
Some may take issue with the word “transmogrification,” preferring to refer to the shift online as a “transformation” or perhaps “innovation.” I disagree. In the last decade, education has steadily being inscribed on by big tech, ingested their business models and rewarded institutional brokers. Perhaps Zoom’s free 40 minutes could be seen as platform version of the razor and blade model, introduced by Gillette. This business model does not expect a revenue stream from the handle. The main goal driving the razor (or platform) was create a revenue stream from the blades, each different from the other. And the blades were the educators acting as interchangeable consumable items. Seen as disposable items when blunt. While corporate valuations sored on the stock market.
Platforms coded logic’s have left a mark on class practices. Big tech’s business models are being normalized. Teachers are becoming disposable appendages (or blunt blades) of the machine. Professional judgement is shifting away from educators. Pre-emptive ed tech on proprietary platforms and the commercial cloud are programming students. Are we all being transmogrified by technology and business strategies, driving exponential change? Are you being as a transmogrified?