Abstract
This paper describes my journey from instructional technology professional and doctoral student to instructional technology leader and tenure-track faculty member. I reflect on 15 years of application, in government, industry, and higher education, of what I learned in the classroom from some of the giants of the field (Wager, Morgan, Kaufman, Dick, Keller, Harless, Reiser, Driscoll). With the continuing proliferation of technology throughout all levels of higher education, systems thinking and the instructional systems design (ISD) process is highly relevant and germane. Its application, however, must be done with care as many people do not understand it and it is applied within a complex, imperfect social and organizational cultural context that requires compromise, consensus building, patience, and a willingness to proceed slowly. The growing role of technology in organizations, and especially e-Learning in education, has increased the need for systems thinking and systemic change in order to manage rapid change.
This is my story.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Chow, A. (2011). Distance Learning Ideal Vision. Unpublished internal report. University of North Carolina at Greenboro.
Chow, A., Oguz, F., Chu, C., Martin, B., & Smith-Decoster, M. (2012). Online Learning at UNCG. Unpublished report: SOE online ad-hoc committee.
Christiansen C, Johnson C, Horn M (2008) Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns. McGraw Hill, New York, NY
Davis FD Jr (1989) Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information Technology. MIS Quarterly 13(3):318–339
Harless J (1998) The Eden conspiracy: educating for accomplished citizenship. Guild V Publications, Wheaton, IL
Kowch E (2013) Towards leading diverse, smarter and more adaptable organizations that learn. In: Lewis J, Green A, Surry D (eds) Technology as a Tool for Diversity Leadership. IGI Global, Hershey, PA, pp 11–35
Reigeluth CM, Duffy FM (2008) The AECT FutureMinds initiative: Transforming America’s school systems. Educational Technology 48(3):45–49
Reigeluth CM, Garfinkle RJ (1994) Envisioning a new system of education. In: Reigeluth C, Garfinkle R (eds) Systemic Change in Education. Educational Technology Publications, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chow, A.S. One Educational Technology Colleague’s Journey from Dotcom Leadership to University E-Learning Systems Leadership: Merging Design Principles, Systemic Change and Leadership Thinking. TECHTRENDS TECH TRENDS 57, 64–73 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-013-0693-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-013-0693-6