The Role of the Technology Navigator in Facilitating Telepresence Learning and Communities of Practice

• In Event: Utilizing Telepresence for Distance Learning in Doctoral Programs: Perspectives, Affordances, and Challenges

Abstract

Objectives / Purposes

This study is an examination of my experience as both a cohort member and graduate research assistant charged with facilitating telepresence technology for an inaugural hybrid cohort of EdD students. Specifically, I discuss my role as the technology navigator defined by Bell et al. (2014) as a graduate student tasked with facilitating the technology and interactions among instructors and students in a synchromodal course (a course that contains telepresence and residence learners), included the vetting, sourcing, and administration of technology, designing orientation for students and faculty, and consulting with program administrators regarding the role technology played in enhancing or detracting from the cohesiveness of the cohort. One research question guides this study: What is the role of the technology navigator in developing a community of practice within an EdD cohort that uses telepresence?

Theoretical Framework

I used two theories as the framework for this study. Third space, according to Bhabha (1994), is a continual negotiation and reformation of identity wherein a hybrid or a third space that challenges prior binary spaces is created. Through this third space learning, we constructed a community of practice (Wenger et al., 2010), which is a diverse group working toward the goal of mutual and reciprocal growth.

Mode of Inquiry

This paper is an autoethnography of my work as the technology navigator for a cohort of EdD students that analyzes my lived experience and investigates my work within the broader culture of hybrid EdD education in a school of education (Adams & Ellis, 2011; Chang, 2008). By positioning myself as a researcher and as a member of the group being researched, I was able to identify and speak to the challenges and opportunities of developing community within a doctoral cohort that uses telepresence from an emic perspective.

Data Sources

The data supporting this case stem from several sources: reflections on my direct involvement with faculty, administrators, and students as the technology navigator, observations of students and faculty with whom I worked, and notes from dialogic discussions among community members.

Conclusions

The study found the role of technology navigator to be critical in the formation of community within a hybrid cohort. This role bridges between students, faculty, and administration to facilitate not just technology but also the integration of first space notions of face-to-face instruction with second space computer-mediated communication technologies (Jordan & Elsden-Clifton, 2014) into a third space hybrid instructional, learning, and community model.

Significance of the Study

As this hybrid synchromodal learning model becomes increasingly more viable for graduate programs, understanding the necessity and work of a technology navigator will be imperative to ensure all students, regardless of location, experience the same rich learning opportunities, to facilitate the development of a community of practice, and to assist faculty and program administrators understand and effectively utilize telepresence technology.

Author

• Rachel Lance, Judson University