Worksheet 2.2: The Technology Steward

Tech stewards most often are members of the community they serve. They just happen to pay attention to technology issues in the community’s life.

-Wenger, E., N. White, J. Smith (2008). Digital Habitats: Stewarding Technology for Communities. CP Square. (p.25)

Technology Stewardship is a community leadership role. People take on the role for several reasons (often more than one):

• No one else is doing it
• Satisfaction in serving the needs of the community of practice
• Establishing and helping to realize a vision for the community
• Personal learning and growth
• Professional development and advancement

The Tech Steward role is typically part-time and voluntary. In some cases, it is an ad hoc response to address a specific problem or opportunity. Other times it is a longer-term and strategic commitment on the part of the community.

The demands of the role vary by community and by situation. Technology Stewardship can take on many different possibilities. No one size fits all.

There are five primary streams of activity in the Tech Steward role:

• Understanding the community, its needs, and its aspirations
• Be aware of ICT choices and developments of interest to the community
• Help the community make informed choices about ICT tools and platforms
• Help the community experiment with ICT choices
• Help the community to integrate effective ICT choices into everyday use

This course has been designed to introduce the Technology Stewardship approach. Some participants will see themselves as doing tech stewardship already, and this course may help them to improve their practice.

Others will see it as a role they could fulfil to help serve the interests of their community.

Those participants not interested in serving as tech stewards can still benefit from understanding the role and telling others about this approach.

Take a moment to review the questions in the following table and then discuss with your group members.