I Don't Need Another AI Workshop. I Need a Working Projector.
Virginia Woolf wrote that “a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” Nearly a century later, I would like to propose a modest update: a lecturer needs a reliable computer and a functioning projector if they are to teach.
On the teacher's desk, a handwritten note offers some reassurance: "Älä sammuta tätä konetta." Fortunately, years of working in Finland have equipped me with enough Finnish to understand the message. Rest assured, I have no intention of shutting down the computer. At this point, I would simply be happy if it finished starting up.
Once you finally manage to log in, there are multiple tabs to open, authentication steps to complete, and systems to navigate. Then the projector decides not to recognise the computer. Or it needs several minutes to "warm up." Or everything appears to be working perfectly until you play a video and discover there is no sound.
Students sit patiently while you click through every available setting, reconnect cables, restart applications, and quietly question your life choices. Sometimes the janitor is called. They arrive, investigate the problem, and occasionally achieve the same result as you: a shared sense of uncertainty.
At times, I have even considered framing these moments as authentic learning experiences for students. After all, technical problems are a regular feature of contemporary working life. Perhaps what looks like troubleshooting is actually career preparation.
The most memorable example occurred several times in the S-building. No matter what I did, I could not switch on the projector. I pointed the remote control directly at it. I pressed the correct buttons repeatedly. Nothing happened. I even asked a student to try. They were equally unsuccessful.
Eventually, I climbed onto a desk (after removing my shoes, naturally) and switched on the projector manually using a marker. In some rooms, even this solution was beyond my reach, and I had to ask a taller student for assistance. On one occasion, I borrowed a student's knitting needle to extend my reach. I suspect this was not the type of pedagogical innovation envisioned in our teaching strategy.
Hybrid meetings introduce an entirely different level of complexity.
Recently, I organised a staff meeting about first-year students' feedback. The aim was to create a welcoming and inspiring discussion. I booked a Meeting Owl well in advance, collected it from the library, carried it to the S-building, and arrived thirty minutes early to prepare.
Then the adventure began.
The projector would not recognise either the classroom computer or my laptop. Teams refused to share my screen together with computer audio. At one point, I lost the cursor entirely; the projected screen displayed only my desktop background, with no icons and no visible way forward. By the time the meeting began, my stress levels were considerably higher than I had intended for an event focused on collegial reflection and student wellbeing.
The irony is that there is a lot of discussion in higher education about digital transformation and artificial intelligence. We attend workshops, webinars, and training sessions. We are encouraged to explore new tools, learn new platforms, and stay up to date with the latest technological developments.
These discussions are important. However, they sometimes overlook a basic reality: good digital teaching depends on reliable infrastructure.
Before I can think about the pedagogical implications of generative AI, I need to know whether the classroom computer will start. Before I can experiment with new digital tools, I need a projector that works consistently. Before I can facilitate an engaging hybrid session, I need the existing technology to connect without requiring thirty minutes of troubleshooting.
None of this is intended as criticism of any particular technology or of colleagues in IT support, who are invariably helpful and supportive. Rather, it is a reflection on the realities of teaching in a digitally mediated university. Digital transformation is not only about innovation, strategy, and new technologies. It is also about the everyday conditions that enable teaching and learning to take place.
Virginia Woolf asked for a room of one's own.
I will settle for a room where the computer logs in without delay, the projector turns on from the floor, the cables are safely arranged, Teams works fine, and the necessary equipment is already there and functioning.
I don't need another AI workshop.
I need a working projector.
(Text edited with Microsoft Copilot. Images generated with ChatGPT.)
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