Understanding the Nature of ICT-based Innovation Processes in Education - A Theoretical Framework for Informing Policy, Research and Action (original) (raw)

2003, Working Paper, Edinburgh University / Fondazione Mondo Digitale

Sociotechnical Constituencies and the Diamond of Alignment The fundamental premise of the ‘sociotechnical constituency ’ approach is that all innovation and technological processes are understood to be intrinsically an integration of social and technical constituents. That is, they imply the construction of ‘sociotechnical constituencies, ’ understood as dynamic ensembles of technical constituents (hardware, software, etc.) and social constituents (people, interest groups and their visions, values, etc.), which interact and shape each other in the course of the creation, production and diffusion of specific technologies.1 Thus, the term "sociotechnical constituencies " emphasises the idea of interrelation and interaction in innovation and technological development. It makes it possible to think of technical constituents and social constituents but always stressing the point that in the technological process both kinds of constituents merge into each other. Sociotechnical c...