Introduction
A journal article dubbed “Technological change and professional control in the professoriate” by David Johnson is of significant importance in understanding the risks that changes in technology might pose to the social life as analysed in this paper. This article is related to the course as it addresses the risks that technological growth might pose to the education system. Risk is one of the themes tackled in this course.
Main arguments
Johnson argues that technological advancement is posing a major threat to professional control, especially in the academic system (Johnson 2013). He claims that the introduction of instructional technologies in the learning institutions is likely to compromise professional control. These arguments are relative depending on the perspective that the reader is looking them. One can hardly ascertain the arguments raised here without conducting a thorough research. Even though technology has facilitated in the enhancement of some operations like addressing crimes, it has eventually eliminated some instances of physical involvement of the respective professionals (Chan 2007).
Chan argues that the same case might happen in the education system. Claims that technological change will gradually eat away at professional control in the education field are evident in areas such as decision-making process. Professionals in the education field play a significant role in decision-making processes on matters to do with education. However, currently, technological breakthrough in the field of artificial intelligence has made it easy for institutions to use technology in making critical decisions affecting the organisation. The same case might happen in the academic institutions as time goes by. Decisions that were once left to professionals would be made using computer technology. These would lockout professionals from the control of operations within the institutions.
Johnson argues that technological changes will not only lock out professionals from the decision-making process, but it will also deny them control of research roles and delimit their teaching responsibilities. Prior to technological advancements, professionals were responsible for all research assignments in education institutions. They assumed the responsibility of identifying and managing researches to the end. Hiltz and Turoff (2005) argue that technological advancement has made it possible for institutions to conduct research efficiently and cheaply. The question now will be, why depend on professionals who are expensive and time consuming when technology can facilitate to carryout the same study efficiently and cheaply? It is logical that education institutions will turn to technology since it is cheap and efficient.
Counterarguments
Light, Cox, and Calkins (2009) argue that technological advancement will not erode professional control in the educational institutions. What it will do is to reduce the number of professionals that can attend to a particular task. Handling the emerging technology demands qualified personnel. Consequently, professionals will be the ones handling the technology applied in managing operations within an institution. All that will happen is that in cases where a research required ten professionals, the number of professionals will go down as some of their activities are taken by the technology. It is hard to separate technology from professionals. For technology to function, a professional has to manage or monitor it. Therefore, professionals will still have control of the education institutions even though they will not have full control of their fields as it was before the adoption of technology by the institutions.
Even though educational institutions continue with the process of adopting technology, they need to ensure that the technology does not replace professionals in the majority of the education fields. The possibility of technology replacing human workforce has been around for quite some time now. Academics have proved that technology does not facilitate to enhance education, especially in higher education (Light, Cox & Calkins 2009). Hence, in spite of the institutions of higher education incorporating instructional technology in their teaching methods, they will still have to rely on professionals if they wish to add value to their education.
Pedagogical innovations rarely motivate technology. This implies that technology only facilitates to make the leaning environment comfortable but it does not add any value to the quality of education. For institutions to improve on the value of their education system, they have to make sure that professionals control the learning environment despite the adoption of instructional technology. Replacing professionals with instructional technology would compromise the quality of education the higher education institutions offer (Roger 2007).
Technology has facilitated in adding value to a number of fields across the globe. Nevertheless, this does not imply that it helps to add value to all fields or processes (Moravec 2008). One of the fields where technology does not add significant value is in the education field. The correlation between technological advancement and “unbundling” of the academic function might be exaggerated. Technology does not facilitate to reduce the workload within the education system. Actually, in the process of enhancing efficiency in delivery of particular services within the institution, technology ends up increasing the workload for the professionals. The professionals have to monitor the technology to ensure that it works as expected and address all the challenges that might arise in the process. In the real sense, technology cannot completely replace the professionals even if in some areas it leads to reduction in the number of professionals that work on a particular project. Professionals still assume control of their programs.
Weaknesses of the study
To arrive at the conclusion that technological changes are gradually eroding professional control in higher education, Johnson highlighted on the increase in the application of technology in institutions of higher learning. However, his study did not focus on the effects of technology in the various faculties. Increase in the application of technology in the institutions of higher learning does not necessarily imply that technology is actually taking over the role of professionals in the institutions. Johnson ought to have carried out a study of how the faculty experience technological changes. This would have helped in ascertaining if technological changes are actually posing a threat to professional control.
In addition, while compiling this article, Johnson did not collect data that would facilitate in analysing the effects of technological change on professional control. Increase in the level of technological changes in the institution of higher learning is what made him come up with the assumption that technology is actually replacing professionals in the majority of the areas that they once controlled. Until the researchers come up with data that analyse the impacts of technological changes on professional control, it is hard to claim that technology is posing a threat to professional control in the institutions of higher learning. The number of professionals might have gone down due to the introduction of technology but this does not imply that technology is assuming control.
Reference List
Chan, J 2007, ‘The Technology game: How information technology is transforming police practice’, Journal of Criminal Justice, vol. 1, pp. 139-159.
Hiltz, R & Turoff, M 2005, ‘Education goes digital: the evolution of online learning and the revolution in higher education’, The Digital Society, vol. 48 no. 10, pp. 59-64.
Johnson, R 2013, ‘Technological change and professional control in the professoriate’, Science, Technology, & Human Value, vol. 38 no. 1, pp. 126-149.
Light, G, Cox, R & Calkins, S 2009, Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: The Reflective Professional, SAGE, Thousand Oaks.
Moravec, W 2008, ‘A new paradigm of knowledge production in higher education’, On the Horizon, vol. 16 no. 3, pp. 123-136.
Roger, D. L 2007, ‘A paradigm shift: technology integration for higher education in the new millennium’, AACE Journal, vol. 1 no. 13, pp. 19-33.