WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.459 Welcome back to the deep dive. We take that pile 00:00:02.459 --> 00:00:05.580 of sources you've got and well, we cut right 00:00:05.580 --> 00:00:07.700 to the chase giving you the insights you need. 00:00:07.839 --> 00:00:10.519 Helping you get properly informed fast. Exactly. 00:00:10.720 --> 00:00:13.960 So today we're digging into a concept that might 00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:16.320 just change how you look at technology's impact. 00:00:16.920 --> 00:00:19.940 It's called structural deepening. The idea is 00:00:19.940 --> 00:00:22.140 basically technology isn't just bolted on, you 00:00:22.140 --> 00:00:25.359 know, it gets in there and fundamentally reshapes 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:27.859 the whole system. often in ways you didn't expect. 00:00:28.059 --> 00:00:29.920 That's a great way to put it. Yeah, structural 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:32.000 deepening, as the source defines it, is when 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:34.659 you take a technology made for, say, purpose 00:00:34.659 --> 00:00:37.920 A, and you apply it to system B. OK. And system 00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:40.719 B doesn't just absorb it. It actually gets more 00:00:40.719 --> 00:00:44.299 complex and deeper structurally. So how did that 00:00:44.299 --> 00:00:46.810 happen? What drives it? Well. Could be a few 00:00:46.810 --> 00:00:48.509 things. Users trying to make parts of it better. 00:00:48.609 --> 00:00:51.109 Maybe new tech gets invented or pulled in from 00:00:51.109 --> 00:00:53.750 somewhere else. Or sometimes people just find 00:00:53.750 --> 00:00:56.429 totally new ways to use the tech that no one 00:00:56.429 --> 00:00:59.369 planned for. Unintended consequences, sort of. 00:00:59.710 --> 00:01:04.030 Exactly. And, this is important, it applies to 00:01:04.030 --> 00:01:07.159 hard tech. you know, physical stuff, machines, 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:10.480 infrastructure, but also soft tech. Soft tech, 00:01:10.700 --> 00:01:12.939 like processes. Yeah, processes, methods, even 00:01:12.939 --> 00:01:15.280 how organizations are set up. All of it can get 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:17.260 deepened. Okay, let's make this concrete. Our 00:01:17.260 --> 00:01:19.719 sources give a really good example. Putting digital 00:01:19.719 --> 00:01:22.180 computers into schools, into the curriculum, 00:01:22.379 --> 00:01:24.219 into how teaching happens. Right, and we need 00:01:24.219 --> 00:01:26.859 to remember education wasn't like starting from 00:01:26.859 --> 00:01:29.980 zero. It already had its own instructional technologies 00:01:29.980 --> 00:01:32.959 way before computers showed up. Sure. Blackboards, 00:01:33.260 --> 00:01:35.299 textbooks? The whole lecture format, even just 00:01:35.299 --> 00:01:37.299 how classrooms are laid out. That's all technology 00:01:37.299 --> 00:01:39.379 in a sense. It was a complex system already. 00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:41.819 So computers arrived sometime mid -century. Yeah, 00:01:41.879 --> 00:01:43.859 and it wasn't just adding another tool to the 00:01:43.859 --> 00:01:46.480 teacher's kit. It caused this profound structural 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:49.200 deepening in education. How so? What changed? 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:52.079 Well, for starters, curriculum, it wasn't just, 00:01:52.299 --> 00:01:54.340 okay, here's computer class. It was integrating 00:01:54.340 --> 00:01:58.159 tech across subjects. You know, CAD in art class, 00:01:58.700 --> 00:02:01.079 data analysis in science. Digital tools for writing? 00:02:01.319 --> 00:02:04.780 Yeah, exactly. And that meant developing totally 00:02:04.780 --> 00:02:08.139 new ways to teach with these tools. That's the 00:02:08.139 --> 00:02:10.879 pedagogy changing, right? A classic example of 00:02:10.879 --> 00:02:13.830 that. Soft technology getting deeper. Okay, that 00:02:13.830 --> 00:02:16.009 makes sense for the teach part. But what I found 00:02:16.009 --> 00:02:18.210 really interesting was how it created ripples, 00:02:18.469 --> 00:02:21.530 like, beyond the classroom. Oh, absolutely. Suddenly, 00:02:21.849 --> 00:02:24.289 schools needed this whole new layer of operations, 00:02:24.430 --> 00:02:26.990 didn't they? You got it. Think about it. Network 00:02:26.990 --> 00:02:29.949 admins, people who knew the software, actual 00:02:29.949 --> 00:02:32.689 computer techs on site. Right. That wasn't just 00:02:32.689 --> 00:02:36.110 hiring one IT guy. It fundamentally changed the, 00:02:36.110 --> 00:02:38.819 um... the overhead, the support structure needed 00:02:38.819 --> 00:02:41.419 just to keep the place running. Totally. It re 00:02:41.419 --> 00:02:43.479 -articulated what a school needs to function 00:02:43.479 --> 00:02:46.039 and connect that to the teachers. Again, professional 00:02:46.039 --> 00:02:48.439 development just exploded. Ah, yeah. Training. 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:51.000 Massive deepening there. Yeah. Teachers didn't 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:52.960 just need to know how to use the computer. They 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:55.159 needed ongoing help learning how to actually 00:02:55.159 --> 00:02:57.699 teach effectively with it, how to fix problems, 00:02:57.819 --> 00:03:00.039 how to manage a classroom full of devices. It 00:03:00.039 --> 00:03:02.560 changed the job description, really, fundamentally. 00:03:03.039 --> 00:03:06.060 The required skills just kept shifting. And these 00:03:06.060 --> 00:03:09.099 new layers, like IT support and training, they 00:03:09.099 --> 00:03:11.379 create their own needs, their own feedback loops. 00:03:11.759 --> 00:03:14.759 It forces more and more adaptation, often stuff 00:03:14.759 --> 00:03:17.860 nobody saw coming. So boiling this down for everyone 00:03:17.860 --> 00:03:20.639 listening, the big takeaway seems to be. Adding 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:23.159 technology isn't just plugging something in. 00:03:23.419 --> 00:03:26.319 Nope. Rarely that simple. It's more like a renovation. 00:03:26.919 --> 00:03:29.439 It transforms the whole system, creates new kinds 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:31.819 of complexity, demands new roles, new skills. 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:34.800 It forces everything to keep changing. It's a 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:36.639 constant re -architecture like you said earlier. 00:03:36.759 --> 00:03:39.560 Right. A perpetual beta almost. Which leads to 00:03:39.560 --> 00:03:41.520 a good question to leave you with, maybe. Think 00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:44.599 about your own world, work, life, whatever. Where 00:03:44.599 --> 00:03:47.379 else do you see technology causing this structural 00:03:47.379 --> 00:03:50.800 deepening? What new roles or maybe new complications 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:52.719 are popping up because of it? Something to chew 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:52.979 on.