In order to be a successful technology leader, one must have more than just technological skills. As stated by Moursund (1992), successful technology coordinators should be able to communicate with people, have knowledge and support the educational system, a broad education, dedication to lifelong learning, and adequate knowledge of technology. A few points that are important in becoming a successful technology coordinator would be to develop plans to increase technology literacy throughout the district, provide training on the technology resources within the district, and develop district wide technology plans.
Challenges will occur on a daily basis for a technology leader. Depending on the infrastructure of the technology department, different challenges will occur. Many districts do not have the support of enough people in the technology department, which creates problems throughout the district. Technology hiccups occur on a daily basis, and there are many employees that are not savvy enough to take care of issues on their own. Our technology coordinator is always on the go within all the buildings in my district. Technology coordinators need to overcome the unwillingness to change from administrators and teachers within the district with the use of technology. Funding is also another issue technology departments face on a yearly basis.
Erin,
ReplyDeleteI like how you referred to some of the daily issues faced by technology coordinators as "hiccups". This is definitely a great way to refer to all of the little issues that they must deal with since many employees lack the knowledge to fix a minor problem on their own. My school district lacks enough technology personnel and they often spend a lot of time dealing with many minor issues which take away from time that can be spent on larger issues or improvements to the network.
Erin,
ReplyDeleteYou talked about "unwillingness to change from administrators and teachers within the district with the use of technology " which reminded me of a slimier situation when the administrators, back in my school district,tried to use my (projector- power point presentations)approach in the science class.
The teacher refused to even try the projector nor the power point application. In my opinion, one of the reasons could be the lake of experience dealing with technology. Also, because she learned via the lecture approach and usually people don't like changes. So I think a technology coordinator could demonstrate the great deal of students interaction and interest in the lessons to help getting teachers to try new methods in the classroom environment as well as helping teachers with technology till they feel comfortable using it.
Hi Erin,
ReplyDeleteYou bring up many great points concerning the skills needed by technology leaders. I read with interest your statement about leaders needing more than technology skills. Our district's technology director was with us for a few years and I can honestly say that I didn't even know what he looked like. You many think, "So what?" but there is a catch....I was the Computer Literacy teacher in our building. I believe he lacked many of the skills that were mentioned in our reading.
I'm hoping our new technology director has read "The Technology Coordinator's Handbook!"
I am happy to report that we do have two technology coaches that have done a great job providing trainings to increase the technology literacy among our staff members.
Wendy
Hi Erin,
ReplyDeleteI like you call the daily issues as "hiccups". Indeed, the lack of people as well as money in the technology departments are probably the biggest challenges for technology coordinators.
You make a very good point that technology coordinators need to overcome the unwillingness to change.
I think our coordinators will encounter less challenges if they are given more authority.
Fan
You mentioned a good point about the challenge that technology leaders will face on a daily basis. Challenges occur depending on the infrastructure of the technology department. So, the technology leader has to be intelligent to know what the weak situations are then he should know how to deal with these challenges.
ReplyDeleteErin,
ReplyDeleteNice analysis. Our director is also always on the move. Ever since the incorporation of thousands of CFF resources over the past couple years, and the lack of increased tech support, they are simply overwhelmed. When it comes down to it, one person can only do so much. If tech literacy is given a higher priority, we will see increased funding, support and the like.