Ed Norman Syndrome
The Ed Norman syndrome follows a model of network design commonly used in the business industry. When designing a network for a business you look for established processes to increase productivity, and security is very important as it can compromise important information. Also, employees do not have the need to use any other software as everything has already been selected by top management in order to increase or keep productivity. In education this model of network design cannot work, but administrators still use it because it has proven to be effective with employees. But this model is not effective when you are dealing with students because it limits the amount of tools and resources that they can use for learning.
I have seen in one district the use of a standardized program to meet the technology needs for students. This program consists of several parts, an email software that provides communication between teachers and students, and provides a calendar of activities and assignments as student reference. Also, access to two research databases for students, and during the implementation process the district selected the different sites that students can use to conduct research mostly taking out entertainment sites commonly used by students such as hotmail and myspace, but providing access to sites that provide both teachers and students with learning tools. This overall program aims to increase communication between administration, teachers, and students while maintaining network security.
I think that the Ed Norman Syndrome is an extreme case in regards to security, but some of its features are still needed. Taking all the necessary steps in order to maintain the integrity of the network is necessary regardless of the consecuences it has with education because a network is a great investment and like any other investment you need to take care of it because it is very costly to maintain and even more expensive to fix. Also, access to the internet needs to be restricted, using a proxy serves is a bit extreme, but allowing student to browse only sites that have been prescreened for content. Access to the internet cannot change much from the Norman model because school districts are liable over what students access.
I think that technology committees in which IT, administration, and teachers communicate can help solve this issues. This committees can determine security settings, software, and overall access in order to better serve students. I think that we need to see education as a business and see that there are liabilities and responsabilities over the use of technology in the workplace even if we are looking for benefits in learning.
8 comments:
Hey Edgar,
You said that (to an extent) the Ed Norman syndrome works in other IT situations such as businesses, etc. I'm not sure I agree. Although it "works," so did Ed Norman's idea, just not working in a positive manner for the end users.
I think even in the business world, people need a least a little stretching room for different applications and different needs for their computers, even at work. Although a company may use specific applications that are probalby taylored to their own company, I think people work better when they have the leaway to do things their own way. For instance, a business man may enter his customers, contacts, and information into the company applications but he/she may also prefer to have their own database in ACCESS or Filemaker to streamline their own progress (automated letters, emails, contact logs, etc.)
Otherwise, what if someone needs to upload to an FTP server, good FTP transfer applications may not be in the "basic" lineup.
Anyhow, my point is that I think anyone should be given at least some control over their given workstation, the postive side is that I think it can encourage more productivity.
Hi Jon,
I agree with you in that allowing end users to use other applications outside the main network setup can encourage them and increase productivity. But I think that this is the difference with IT in business and in education. In your example you indicate that end users may prefer to use their own applications to streamline their progress. A network design team is basically responsible for all the processes and information that run through the system, if an end user was to keep a separate database, how can the network administrator ensure its security and that the customers information is not compromised.
In the business industry decisions about end users are drastic. A network is designed to increase productivity, it is created according to management specifications. If an end user needs other applications in order to adapt then he/she will never be productive from the point of view of management. In many of my network design courses we saw many examples of what you describe, and it is very common for end users to use this as a way to restrict change and having to adapt to a different way to do their job, remember in business an end user wants to be competitive and keep an edge over others and that is what mainly encourages them to be productive.
In education the Ed Norman syndrome does not work because we want to use technology to help construct knowledge, in business we use technology to create standard processes to increase productivity and adaptation of end users to a network, not necessarilty to help them construct knowledge.
That is what I liked about the IT in education, because it is a bigger challenge. I believe the Ed Norman syndrome happens to IT personnel that do not see these differences.
Hi Edgar, I came from a business background and you are right, the model works great in business because workers at most levels are supposed to do as they are told, with the tools they are provided. It doesn't work in education, because teachers are each a C.E.O. in their own room. Your point about the internet is right on, school are liable for student access, so we have to be sure they can't see anything inappropriate.
Edgar,
I think for the vast majority of classrooms the locked-down business model should work (assuming that responsive and capable tech support is available). The exception to that is places where the technology is what is being taught rather than a tool to teach some other subject. At our site we have a Cisco Regional Academy where we teach CCNA, CCNP and the matching instructor courses. Those labs really are the kind of IT carnival where anything goes, but they are totally isolated from the school's operating network. Schools should be just as concerned with protecting thier confidential data as businesses are. People that have a lot of tech-savvy but are in jobs that don't grant them liberties with their technology are often frustrated.
Hello Edgar,
I sense the dissagreement between those who feel the company needs to protect its expensive data bases, sensitive information, etc. and those who believe that the student or employee need some leeway to also have some control over the machines they use.
I like your idea of using commitees to deal with these problems. After all, Ed Norman is an employee just like all of us. Thus, he answers to a higher authority. Such higher authority is really responsible for Ed Norman's actions and his results.
If Ed Norman's boss does not act on Norman, then it is the boss who is really at fault and Ed Norman is just perceived as the bad guy, because we happen to perceive him that way. Ed Norman is being managed and does what he is told to do; I do not believe Ed Norman works independently and is untouchable.
Hi Edgar,
Yes and no, Ed Norman Syndrome is good for security and time wasting from workers. On the other hand, it limits the creativity and further exploring on what are out there in the electronic world.
De Nguyen
On the subject of committees:
Forming a Committee is no guarantee of good decision making. As a hypothetical: everything somebody would need to steal my identity was included in my electronic application to CSUSB. If my identity is stolen through the University's negligence because they failed to restrict admin privileges, does it really matter if one person or a committee failed to make smart choices?
Interesting discussion. The restrictive model of computing use from the IT perspective does make sense in some situations. It may even make sense in some schools that prefer to program the instruction and monitor it closely. I tend to prefer more flexibility and latitude, but that is just me.
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