In this lesson you will examine challenges encountered in e-learning implementation processes. Sometimes you do not apply your current knowledge and you may experience an “implementation dip” when you let these challenges make you feel despondent and unmotivated. It is important to know what your current capacity is to solve these problems and who to turn to for assistance. One can distinguish between two broad types of challenge:
- Technical problems
- Adaptive challenges
Technical problems are often, but not always, technology-related. They are problems in which current knowledge is sufficient to find the solutions. Technical problems can be solved by having a guideline, personal support, routine or process in place.
e.g. There is no booking system for a computer lab. It is hard to plan and gain access for lessons. This can be overcome by instituting a booking process.
Adaptive challenges have a complex set of underlying factors contributing to them and each challenge requires an adaptive response. It is often not the reserve of one person to meet such a challenge. In a school with established distributed leadership the challenge will be addressed by a group of people. Although they are sometimes tough to overcome, schools usually have the capacity to collectively address and overcome an adaptive challenge.
e.g. Teachers are not showing interest in integrating technology in the school. This is an issue of ownership and commitment to the vision and therefore requires some new thought and different action i.e. strategising
Some of the biggest failures of leadership occur:
a) when leaders treat adaptive challenges like technical problems, thinking that a decree of a process can solve the problem, and
b) when leaders, through their lack of capacity, treat simple technical problems as insurmountable adaptive challenges.
