Bazaar university: an examination of procurement processes and sales tactics

Excited about landing a job as a “knowledge worker”, you might find yourself in another part of the university, in a beautiful office, on an important committee, with a problem in need of a solution, and some level of control over a budget … and you may ask yourself, “how did I get here?” Not unlike the lyrics of the Talking Heads song, Once in a Lifetime, the “knowledge work” you thought you signed up for might have more drudgery than you expected. Digital learning tools and resources often have associated costs and who makes the decisions varies greatly. This chapter overviews some common procurement and adoption processes inside of universities and considers various sales tactics and business models from technology vendors. This chapter ultimately attempts to answer the question, “how is it that a student comes to use a particular technology in a classroom, and what are the implications of that?”