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Technology administration for/by/in the humanities.

Article Excerpt
"Technology is a human activity."

--Martin Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology

FROM 2002-4, as postdoc-cum-director of computers and writing at a large university's writing center, in addition to studying the emerging field of technology and pedagogy, I stocked and maintained a five-classroom lab, hired tech support personnel, and encouraged humanities faculty to use computers in their classrooms. How did a freshly minted PhD in creative writing find herself in this position? Like many of my generation (X), I had been pulled toward teaching with technology while in graduate school. Those who experimented with computers were given better courses and classrooms--sometimes even free machines.

After receiving my degree, the pull became stronger; this time, it came from institutions offering correspondence-style online courses. I preferred face-to-face, computer-enhanced teaching and learning, but competition was fierce and employment opportunities were few. So while actively on the teaching market, I took the tech-heavy administrative job at the writing center. The following is a summary of the useful things I learned over two years of "guerrilla technology administration." It is meant to inspire--dare I say empower--even the most right-brained of people.

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Cutting edge, bleeding edge

In 2002, we had to rebuild our computer lab from scratch after a tropical storm rolled through. As soon as our tech vendors learned of the damage to our facility, they lined up outside our door (now three floors up). One sales representative came by with a "cute new box with a tiny footprint"...

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