We have all been there, whether we are watching a webinar or we see a presenter having trouble playing a video; someone immediately says “gotta love technology!” as if the problem was the technology used. More often than not, the problem is not technology but, the users of technology. We have to stop talking about technology as a escape goat for poor user practices. In this post, I discuss the common occurrences where Learning and Development (L&D) professionals blame technology instead of recognizing human shortcomings.
eLearning complaints
There are always all these “thought leaders” on LinkedIn and elsewhere in social media denouncing eLearning as a terrible learning medium. They blame an authoring tool because inexperienced designers continue to lock navigation, convert powerpoints full of text or build courses with irrelevant, meaningless interactivity i.e. 27 click and reveal buttons on screen. None of these problems are technology based, they are poor designs.
LMS complaints
“Our LMS sucks!”, this is another one you hear many learning professionals complaint about. Most Learning Management Systems (LMS) fail because those in charge of choosing and implementing the platform make several mistakes. Among the most common mistakes are: Not gathering business requirements, not including representation from all stakeholders and not supporting “Ambassador” groups. These groups are a careful selection of people wanting to learn and help the new system succeed in the organizational culture. Implementing an LMS is a change management endeavor, not just rolling out a new tool.
Why do we blame technology?
Well, there are times when the infrastructure supporting technology suffers from power failures, etc. Outside of that, we need to blame ourselves because we missed something or we applied the chosen technology in an environment or manner which it was not designed to operate in.
Next time you decide to blame technology when things go wrong, just remember the following:
- Technology is a tool i.e. a piece of paper is technology, eLearning software is technology
- Don’t forget technology is created and used by humans
- Learning what you may have missed or screwed up is an important experiential learning lesson. Don’t miss it by blaming technology.
- In the next five years, only those with technical acumen and charisma will succeed in the workplace.
- Those that have been relying on their charm alone will suffer as businesses are going through a digital transformation.
