Last summer (summer 2017), I made a presentation to some school administrators and aspiring administrators about technology integration, framed through my experiences. During the Q&A, one of the participants asked me if I thought the role was still valid. My response was that the role does not have to be static and can be defined to meet the needs of the school. I explained that in deciding roles, the school should decide what problem(s) they intended to solve, and then select or create the role(s) that would meet the identified needs.
What’s In a Name (Title)
I’ve had many titles in my career, and each job has looked a bit different. So does the title of the position really matter? In this case, I have to say yes. It can help in establishing a role by clarifying it to colleagues. Also, some titles have baggage piled on by previous people in that role, or by descriptions used in society or at other schools. If you’re redefining the job description, you can help emphasize that by changing the title of the role as well.
The most commonly used titles for the person who bears the most hands-on responsibility for day-to-day use of technology in the classroom are: computer teacher, technology coordinator, technology facilitator, technology integrationist, technology specialist, technology (integration) coach. You can replace the word technology with ICT or edtech. Sometimes, schools come up with their own title. For example, one of my titles was Digital Learning Facilitator (DLF, just a little less than an elf). What other titles have you come across?
So What is The Role
The technology integration role, whatever you may call it, looks vastly different from school to school. If you’re trying to define the role, it’s useful to look at the Standards for Coaches from ISTE. In the absence of a well-defined job description at one of my schools, this is how I defined my role. I used terms defined in Coaching: Approaches and Perspectives by Jim Knight (2008).
How can I help you?
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In my role as Technology Coach, I am concerned with supporting technology integration to transform teaching and learning. I am here to support you on your journey of effectively integrating technology into your classroom. I’m a cheerleader who will share successes from colleagues, and a thinker who will consider the changing landscape of our job in helping you meet the needs of our students. To support technology integration, I will use an inquiry stance in my work with you. I would like to start our conversations and work together with a focus on the learning goals that you have for your students. As we work together, I may model/demonstrate lessons, observe classrooms/teaching, support you with your professional goals, help create innovative assessments for your students, and share my knowledge. My core responsibility as a Technology Coach is to support teachers. I’d love to work with you to support your use of technology in the classroom for student engagement and student learning. My calendar is shared with you, so please send me an invite at any time when I’m free if you’d like to meet with me. Catch me in the halls or during my stops in your classroom, through Google Hangouts or through e-mail.
How can I help you with technology integration?Resource provider
Mentor If you are a new teacher, I can support you in learning the norms, policies and practices at our school. I can help you become comfortable with the routines and expectations of the school, with support for curriculum, instructions, and the overall classroom. Instructional Specialist I can help you use technology to differentiate your teaching for the curriculum and for your students. See this wiki on activity types relevant to technological, pedagogical content knowledge. Classroom Supporter I will work with you to model teaching strategies using technology in your classroom or for any of the following:
Learning Facilitator I will provide opportunities for you to build your knowledge and skills to improve student learning. This will include workshops, book studies, action research, pilots, etc. I am open to your ideas. |
What did I Do?
This list is compiled from my last full-time technology coaching position.
- Whole class teaching – ideally, it should have been co-teaching but it was difficult to find time to collaborate with some teachers.
- Work with small teams of students – support classroom learning goals through differentiated learning by working with a small group of students e.g. to make a green screen creation or a stop-motion animation
- Maker hour support – lead making sessions for scribble bots, drone programming, etc.
- Co-teaching – plan a lesson with a teacher and deliver it in tandem with the teacher
- Create tutorials for teachers to use themselves or to use with their students (video or printout)
- Tech setup – especially for visitors or sometimes devices would get disconnected in classrooms
- Robotics and Coding – drop in to support teachers doing coding with students.
- Hardware support – I often got emails about something that was not working, be it a teacher or student device
- Software support – teachers and teacher assistants dropped by with questions or sent an email asking me to drop by
- Software updates and installations – install requested software and complete software updates on devices
- Administration – set up accounts at the start of the year and manage them throughout the year, or when a new digital tool was purchased
- Attend meetings – lots of them. Meetings with administrators, IT team meetings, grade level planning meetings. This was a good way of finding out what was happening in teams but I spent a lot of (wasted) time sitting through nuts and bolts meetings that seemed to have little to do with lesson planning.
- Coordinate meetings – I was responsible for the technology planning committee and had to determine priorities and facilitate the meetings.
- Provide teacher PD – small group planned sessions, department-wide sessions and grade level sessions. Some sessions were pre-planned (with teacher input) and some were drop-in, exploratory sessions.
- Post to a staff blog and weekly newsletter
- Host student bootcamps for digital citizenship
- Host parent sessions on digital citizenship and learning with technology
- Coach middle school robotics (extracurricular)
- Recommend equipment for purchase to Principal and IT Director
- Purchase IT equipment
I’ve done all the jobs from computer teacher to Director of IT. This job has a lot of scope and is constantly changing. Be sure to clarify the role if you’re planning a job in technology integration, or if you’re working with someone in that role.
What Next
I’m still trying to figure that out. I’ve seen some new positions come up using STEAM, Innovation, Design, etc. that seem to extend the role of technology integrationist/coach. Have you caught a glimpse of the future? Please share in the comments.