Roles in Delivering Technology
The race is on to bring technology into our schools and produce technologically literate faculty, staff, and students! But whose job is it to accomplish this great feat? This paper considers school personnel who are directly involved in accomplishing this task, as well as what role they should play.
Starting at the top, administrators play a significant role in the technology development of a school. Besides being one of the leading individuals to initiate and manage the systemic change necessary, administrators must diligently model the understanding and use of technology in fulfilling the responsibilities their position carries. This would include such things as the use of technology to interpret and report data, to communicate with the school community and staff, and to participate in professional collaboration. They must be strong supporters of professional development in the area of technology for teachers and other staff. They should also be enthusiastic participators in professional development. They should have a clear understanding of major barriers to the development of their technology program and possess a wide range of strategies for overcoming these barriers.
Classroom teachers are major role models to students and others in the school community in the development of the technology program, also. They model the importance of technology in delivering subject content and in personal productivity. Through collaboration with other teachers, they model a team spirit. They must be willing to participate in professional development opportunities that equip them to integrate technology into their curriculum and provide training in technology to their students. Teachers need knowledge of software specific to their subject area and how to effectively use it to meet curriculum standards. The ability to create exciting multimedia learning experiences to engage students in learning is another important aspect of the teacher role in delivering technology. Finally, they need an understanding of the components of their technology infrastructure and should be able to do basic troubleshooting.
The technology coordinator’s major role is to supervise other technology staff. They are very involved in managing the technology budget and in purchasing. Another major aspect of their role is in developing technology policies and procedures. Writing grants, providing leadership, and building team spirit are important to the technology coordinator’s role, also. They should work with teachers to help them integrate technology into their curriculum and develop curriculum for technology training. They manage the technology support and assistance system, as well as developing a system for repair and maintenance. They troubleshoot problems, upgrade and replace equipment, operating systems, and software. They are involved in technology training for staff and students by creating training aids, offering workshops, and co-teaching or teaching academic classes. They are involved in diagnosing technical problems and providing resolution for those problems. Finally, they provide technical support and assistance for the computer labs and networks.
Media specialists have a significant responsibility in managing the technology budget and in purchasing system components and software. They are important in developing technology policies and procedures. They should be very involved in leadership, team building, supervision of employees, and grant writing. They should provide help to teachers in integrating technology into their instruction. This would include such things as creating teaching aids, leading workshops, teaching academic classes, and helping to develop a technology training curriculum. They should assist students in developing technology skills and in navigating the library cataloging system.
The instructional technologist collaborates with teachers to integrate technology into their instruction. They might co-teach or teach academic courses. They are involved in introducing new technology curriculum. They create technology training aids, as well as helping to develop the technology training curriculum. They provide training to students, also. They are able to do troubleshooting, in addition to diagnosing and resolving more serious technical problems. They are involved in developing the technology policies and procedures for the school. And they are important in leadership and team building.
The technology technician’s major responsibilities are to troubleshoot technology problems, diagnose and resolve technical problems, and provide support and assistance for stand alone computers, computer labs, and networks. In addition they upgrade and replace equipment, software, operating systems, library cataloging system, building LAN network, and audio/video distance learning systems. They provide basic technology information and help in training students. They may also be involved in collaborating with teachers to integrate technology into their curriculum, co-teach or teach academic classes, and offer training workshops. Finally, they are important in providing leadership and team building, writing grants, and developing school policies and procedures.
Professional Competency Continuum: Professional Skills for the Digital Age Classroom, Coughlin, Edward C. and Lemke, Cheryl. Milken Exchange on Education Technology, 1999.
Michigan Technology Staffing Guidelines, Appendix 1 – Position Descriptions, “Classroom Teacher Technology Job Responsibilities”, May 2000. Retrieved June 1, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://techguide.merit.edu/jobs/teacher.html
Michigan Technology Staffing Guidelines, Appendix 1 – Position Descriptions, “District Level Technology Coordinator”, May 2000. Retrieved June 1, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://techguide.merit.edu/jobs/distcoord.html
Michigan Technology Staffing Guidelines, Job Responsibilities, May 2000. Retrieved June 1, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://techguide.merit.edu/jobresponse.html
Michigan Technology Staffing Guidelines, Appendix 1 – Position Descriptions, “Building Level Teacher/Instruction Technology Position”, May 2000. Retrieved June 1, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://techguide.merit.edu/jobs/buildtechinstruct.html
Michigan Technology Staffing Guidelines, Appendix 1 – Position Descriptions, “Building Level Technology Technician Support Staff”, May 2000. Retrieved June 1, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://techguide.merit.edu/jobs/buildtechtech.html