Identifying and Resolving Prevalent Edtech Collaboration Problems

Is it worth the effort to reestablish your relationship with your educational software vendor when things go wrong? Or  Is it preferable to simply dissolve the partnership? Each alternative has a case to be made.

Any instructional technology leader should be able to tell whether a collaboration can be maintained or is beyond repair. A poor decision can result in annoyances, headaches, and the squandering of chances and dollars. We’ll look at three frequent scenarios that might make or ruin an educational technology relationship in this article.

1. You don’t Take Advantage of all of the Technology’s Features.

Your school system may have been utilizing the technology for a long time, so no one remembers when it was initially deployed or who is responsible. Officials from other regions discuss characteristics you were unaware of, and you have no idea which ones you possess. Some customers appreciate some features of the structure, but the expenses aren’t justified because of the low district-wide usage.

Both sides are at fault in this case, thus it’s time to reach an agreement. Based on how long the district has not contacted the contractor, settlement may be costly. When compared to the expense of beginning afresh, preserving existing cooperation is certainly the most cost-effective alternative.

2. Users Feel Uneasy with the Technology’s Capabilities.

This dreadful circumstance can be averted in several ways. Perhaps the vendor’s training course focused on direct teaching, but the employees who received it have either moved on or have forgotten what they were taught. Maybe your region did not think about continued training when it was first implemented, therefore the level of understanding has stayed low since then. Or perhaps previous abilities have simply become outdated as a result of the passage of time.

In cases like this, effective leadership may have a big impact on the state’s bottom line. There are several possibilities for continued professional development and training that are either free or low-cost. Implementing such alternatives will need a great deal of forethought, responsibility, and follow-up, or you will see yourself in almost the same scenario relatively soon.

3. As the Company has Grown, Customer Service has Taken a Back Place.

Perhaps you had a wonderful collaboration at least for some time. When aid is required, however, it might take days for someone to reply, if they respond at all. You cannot even access your sales representative when you require assistance, or you do not even aware of who your representative is.

Even the most powerful technology in the world isn’t worth such anguish. If threatening to cancel the collaboration stimulates the firm to reply to you and restore channels of contact, it could be worth your time to continue on a contractual basis with that company. However, in such situations, favorable benefits are usually fleeting. The challenges are the product of business culture, which does not alter rapidly.

When you sign up with a new educational technology company, your shared objective should be to have continuously great experiences. However, mutually productive collaborations are rare. Time, honesty, and expertise are the core components of successful business collaborations, and the lack of any one of these can jeopardize the partnership. Starting again may seem enticing in this situation, but it isn’t always the best decision.

Efficient instructional technology executives can tell if a relationship has reached a snag or is doomed to collapse. Can you do it?