Education Technology: Where Does It Live?
This post was part of an assignment for my class on being a technology coordinator. Your comments and feedback are welcome.
Where does it live? This question comes from Chris Lehmann, a well know educator in education technology circles. He is principal at Philadelphia’s Science Leadership Academy. After going through the assigned readings, looking at job descriptions, and thinking about my own district, that was the question that popped into my mind.
Educational ideas only have lasting power if they exist within the systems and structures of institutions that claim them. Everything — every system, every policy, every structure — in schools represent a pedagogical choice, and we don’t take advantage of that. The classes we choose to schedule, the length of the classes, the times they meet — every possible permutation privileges certain kinds of learning and 667: Module One Reflection
- How different or similar is the job compared to your previous perceptions of the job?
- What do you think is the most challenging aspect of the job?
The text, The Technology Coordinators Handbook, described the position for a district at of my size as having fewer IT support responsibilities, more employees under them, a greater focus on curriculum, but they are a team leader, and at a mid-level in the district both developing and implementing policy. In smaller districts, as is true generally, you end up wearing more hats, may have more IT responsibilities, and obviously fewer employees working under you to support what you do.
The Technology Coordinators Handbook from Pinellas County Schools took it from a completely different perspective. Although a very large district (~150,000 students), they appear to have “pushed” the position down to the site level. That means that like at a small district, the person wears many hats, and does not have