Why Teachers Don't Use The Software Their Districts Paid For
Ryan Baker (University of Pennsylvania's Center for Learning Analytics) unleashed a small surprise last month with a report indicating that the vast amount of software licenses purchased by school districts are simply never used. There are points on which we might quibble, including the smallish sample size of districts (48) and the very small sample size of data management companies (1). But the results still feel correct, and worthy of discussion. Schools spend a great deal of money on software that is barely used, if at all. Why does that happen?
Thomas Arnett at the Christensen Institute took a stab at explaining all that unused software, using the Institute's Jobs To Be Done Theory. We could call it Perceived Utility or Does This Actually Help Me, but the idea is simple. Teachers have an idea of what their job is, and they will evaluate software based on whether or not it helps do the job.
Arnett's team talked to teachers and uncovered three "jobs" that they believed were relevant:
Job #1: Lead way in improving my school.
Job#2: Find ways to CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Why Teachers Don't Use The Software Their Districts Paid For
