Rewiring EdTech support: A collaborative model for empowering staff capability at scale

Abstract

The rapid evolution of digital tools and heightened expectations for technology-enhanced learning are driving academics to continually upskill and adopt emerging digital tools in their teaching. However, the support systems surrounding these tools have often been fragmented, reactive, and insufficiently integrated into our institutional structures. Offering limited opportunities for staff to build the confidence and capability needed to use educational technologies effectively and independently. Moreover, the absence of systemic coordination contributes to staff anxiety and disengagement. For example, teaching staff reported feeling overwhelmed with troubleshooting the Moodle gradebook during peak assessment periods, uncertainty about who to contact and frustration with inconsistent, incorrect or delayed responses from vendor support. Those less confident with the technology often reverted to manual workarounds or avoided adopting new tools and features altogether.

To address these challenges at our university, we developed the Cyclic EdTech Support Model: a unified, collaborative framework that shifts from traditional siloed EdTech support to a connected, scalable and feedback-driven ecosystem. Informed by constructivist learning theory, socio-technical systems thinking and continuous improvement principles, the model focuses on moving from dependency to empowerment. Giving staff the confidence to navigate the EdTech ecosystem independently while still feeling supported. It emphasizes community learning, distributed expertise, and the importance of feedback loops in complex systems to enable scalable innovation.

It operates on six interconnected elements:

• Capacity-building at the Start: where staff and students are onboarded through training and workshops(e.g. Hands-on workshops on key edtech tools prior to the start of the term for staff, Orientation Week demo for students)
• Self-help Enablement: using digital resources and chatbot support to reduce barriers encourage just-in-time help-seeking(e.g. Scribe step-by-step guides on web resources which can be updated real-time, Chatbots directly accessible within Moodle)
• First-Level Internal Support: via a new in-house team replacing the previous vendor-based service, staffed by knowledgeable professionals who provide fast, contextual troubleshooting and triage (e.g. In-house EdTech level 1 team supporting via phone, chatbot escalation and webform)
• Second-Level Expert Intervention: through advanced troubleshooting, trend analysis, local faculty collaboration and resource development(e.g. Team of technical SMEs, Power BI reports on inbound enquires)
• Systemic Escalation: where vendor-facing teams manage issue resolution and patch deployment(e.g. Coordination with Moodle, Turnitin, Echo360 vendors to resolve bugs)
• Ongoing Improvement & Automation: to streamline processes and maintain up-to-date knowledge base and chatbot responsiveness(e.g. Transition from email enquiries to webforms and then to PowerApp, monthly update of Chatbot knowledge base, automated notification on system/ reported issue updates)

To ensure long-term sustainability and support for new tools, the model is also incorporated into a standardised university EdTech change management framework via a project-to-operations checklist, allowing newly introduced EdTech platforms and features to be transitioned into ongoing support with aligned training, documentation, and escalation pathways.

Since implementation, the model has significantly improved coordination, service delivery, and confidence among staff. It places user experience at the centre, drawing on automation, data trends and stakeholder networks to deliver more than just ‘support’ - it enables digital confidence and capacity across the university. User satisfaction has consistently exceeded 95%, based on post-support survey from over 7600 enquires in the last 24 months. Satisfaction was measured using standardised feedback form asking users to rate their experience on a 5-point scale. Feedback from users frequently described the service as approachable, prompt, knowledgeable, clear and solution oriented.

This case exemplifies how Technology Enhanced Learning practices can be augmented through operational innovation by embedding collaboration, shared responsibility and upskilling into a sustainable support structure. Its platform-agnostic and modular design makes it readily transferable across tertiary contexts, particularly for institutions aiming to streamline support and foster digital independence among staff.