The authors maintain that sustainability is found though (1) access; (2) an organizational structure to sustain the technological ecology; and (3) a pedagogy that gives students experiences to match their future work in field.
(1) Access
“We believe that creating a sustainable techno-ecology depends not just on basic access, but rather on the types of access that students and teachers have to technological resources… Conditions of access include “timing, motivation, fit, safety, resources, and appropriateness of equipment” (10). “Students need access not just to the technologies themselves, but also to resources necessary to help them complete tasks and projects. Furthermore, access should be obtained with a minimum of effort and inconvenience, as barriers to access may discourage students in multiple ways” (11)
(2) An organizational structure to sustain the technological ecology
“The effectiveness of our techno-ecology is not only based on access, but also on developing a curriculum for students in professional writing that reflects current organizational and workplace trends and that challenges students to write in a variety of contexts, using multiple media and writing spaces, both physical and digital…Focusing on the learning process rather than on the technical mastery of particular tools helps students learn the transferable skills of problem-solving, critical thinking, and contextual analysis that will serve them well in a multitude of contexts” (14).
(3) A pedagogy that gives students experiences to match their future work in field
“Teachers need space, equipment, and support to create a classroom environment in which students interact, design, compose, and collaborate using the most appropriate equipment for the assignment they are completing” (17).
Key Term
- learning ecology: “the accessed set of contexts, comprised of configurations of activities, material resources and relationships, found in co-located physical or virtual spaces that provide opportunities for learning. This use of the term ecology has the person as the organizing central node in the system, and thus differs from more traditional uses of the term, which usually refer to a single physical environment” (concept by Barron 3)