This is an AI-generated post based on a chapter from a book I published under a Creative Commons license a few years ago
When we talk about Information Technology (IT) in schools today, we are almost always referring to complex systems utilizing digital electronic devices, often relying on “the cloud” for data and productivity tools. Schools, like other large organizations, have enterprise systems supporting accounting, human resources, and facilities management. Consequently, IT professionals often arrive in schools with deep knowledge derived from supporting general business operations and keeping business users productive and content.
However, the educational environment—and the nature of its primary users, students and teachers—introduces significant differences. For those transitioning from business or industry, strategies effective for typical business users may prove less effective in a school setting. The distinction between a corporate office and a classroom environment largely hinges on the unique characteristics of the users themselves.
Here is a look at the fundamental differences between the typical business user and the student user of educational technology.
Competence: Established Skills vs. Emerging Literacy
In a business setting, when designing IT systems, professionals can assume that users possess basic skills necessary to perform their work, including digital literacy, the ability to operate a computer, and the capacity to read screens and directions.
In contrast, students, especially in primary grades (K-12), are characterized by “emerging competence”. They are actively learning fundamental skills, such as reading and writing. For the youngest students, the keyboard itself may be new to them, and their small hands may not fit full-sized keyboards properly. They may find common IT interfaces and input options, such as typing, difficult.
This difference in foundational competence has direct implications for system configuration. For instance, requiring complex password standards (eight characters with mixed letters, capitals, numbers, and special characters), standard for securing corporate networks, can effectively lock out younger students who are incapable of managing them.
Needs: Task-Based Predictability vs. Interest-Based Variability
Business and industry employees typically have clear and specific needs tied directly to their assigned tasks. The hardware and connectivity simply need to be sufficient to run their required software and access necessary data. An employee in the accounting department, for example, is not concerned if their workstation lacks the capacity for video editing. IT professionals can plan and test for this predictable functionality.
In schools, IT must accommodate a much wider and more variable array of needs. School IT systems tend to be general purpose computing devices.
• Diverse Utilization: A single computer may be used by a business class running accounting software in one session and then by a digital arts class editing video in the next.
• Unpredictable Goals: Student IT needs are often interest-based, driven by student curiosity and the curriculum choices of teachers. Furthermore, teaching tasks sometimes involve authentic learning environments that are unpredictable, driven by student interests, and reliant on diverse information sources, with learning products emerging as projects progress.
• Teacher Flexibility: Educators often request flexibility and adaptability for their classrooms, but IT professionals recognize that this flexibility can lead to systems that are unreliable and unsecure. Teachers may not fully understand their technology needs until they experience the systems with students at scale, leading to requests for system reconfiguration even after IT staff thought the job was complete.
Selection and Motivation: Voluntary Employment vs. Compulsory Attendance
IT users in business are selected for their roles; they self-select by applying and are selected by being hired. This process ensures that employees using computers have the necessary skills or the motivation to gain them. If they struggle, employers have options for training or removal.
Conversely, in public K-12 schools, attendance is compulsory. Schools are obligated to provide education to all students, meaning IT professionals must accommodate an extremely wide range of user capacities. Denying a student access to the IT they need may violate their right to an education.
Stability: Continuous Skill Development vs. Periodic Turnover
In business and industry, the user population is relatively stable. While skills improve, major shifts in the user base are typically gradual.
In schools, however, the user experience is periodic and less stable. Students’ skills change over time: a primary student struggling with a keyboard early in the year may become facile later. But when the school year ends, that experienced cohort is replaced by a new group lacking that experience. This continuous influx of technology newcomers means that IT systems must be prepared to manage high variability on a periodic basis.
Consequences of Failure: Financial Bottom Line vs. Instructional Continuity
All IT professionals get frustrated when systems don’t work, knowing what IT systems are supposed to do. However, the urgency associated with IT outages differs between the two environments.
In business, an IT outage can directly and adversely affect the financial “bottom line,” leading to intense urgency.
While IT is essential to school operations, the school environment often lacks a clear, unambiguous measure of success like a financial bottom line. If schools experience power or IT outages, teachers may be able to continue educating children for the short term through alternative, often still valuable, lessons. Although no school IT professional wants systems to be unavailable, the urgency for repair is distinct compared to a business facing direct financial loss.
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Bridging the Gap
The core difference boils down to variability. In business, IT professionals can predict user skills and needs within narrow boundaries. In schools, IT professionals must serve a diverse population with diverse, constantly shifting needs and skills.
IT professionals arriving in schools with business experience often find that their traditional strategies are ineffective because they lack understanding of education, the nature of students and teachers as IT users, and the unique computing environment required for successful schooling. Bridging this gap requires IT professionals to understand that the complex systems in schools introduce high uncertainty and variables outside the control of system designers—namely, the unpredictable human elements of teaching and learning.
Just as a master tailor must adjust patterns for every unique individual, school IT professionals must continuously adjust enterprise solutions to fit the highly diverse, rapidly developing, and compulsory nature of the student population. This requires more than just technical skill; it demands empathy, adaptability, and a willingness to understand the educational needs that drive technology use.