Page 43 - EngineerIT AugustSeptember Issue 2026

EDUCATION

The person who does not get into the room What appear to be implementation
In educational technology, Dick’s work begins before a platform is irritations may reveal that the solution was
developed rather than after it has already been built. He sees himself as designed around an imagined user and an
an advocate for “the person who doesn’t get in the room”: the learner ideal environment.
or educator expected to use something designed elsewhere, often by
people who understand its technology far better than the environment By the time the people affected are
in which it must function. consulted, the most consequential
decisions may already have been made.
His role is to mediate between the people who will use the technology Feedback is then used to persuade people
and those designing, funding and building it. The same gap exists in to accept the product rather than to
almost every sector. change the product itself.

Developers know what a platform can do, leadership knows what it Functionality is not the same as impact
wants to achieve, and procurement knows what was purchased. Each The learner who masters the platform
holds part of the picture, but none necessarily experiences the system but not the intended knowledge reveals a
as the end user does. weakness in the way technological success
is often defined.
The end user encounters it under the conditions in which it must
actually work. Usage data can show where people enter,
where they leave and which features they
The connection may be slow, the interface may assume knowledge the use. The problem begins when organisations
user does not have, or the workflow may duplicate work already being measure the behaviours a system makes
done elsewhere. Instructions that were clear to their author may not visible and assume those behaviours
make sense to someone encountering the task for the first time. represent the outcome.

43 | EngineerIT August/September 2026