We are all aware of the
overwhelming consumption of technology that is taking place in the 21st
century. Students have adapted to this lifestyle as well as many forms of
instruction. Technology has proven to have benefits to learning capabilities –
to overall engage and help instruction to stick in one’s memory. There’s such a
vast amount of options, programs, applications, software, etc. that learning
opportunities are endless. There is literally no excuse for basic and
non-interactive technology based learning, especially when so many resources
are available. The fact of the matter is that for most schools within the US,
the government and local communities ensure that schools are provided with
funds to improve and grow resources in order to aid in instruction. The goal is
for students to grow and learn in a way that is beneficial for themselves and
society. So, why not engage, improve, inspire, and teach through a system that
has proven to enhance literacy development, impact language acquisition, motivate
students and enhance self-esteem – that’s technology. However, if teachers have
limited scope and training of technology and/or the knowledge to incorporate
technology into their lesson, then students will miss out on such great
benefits. Teachers dedicate most of their time in a classroom, instructing
students for most of the day. When students leave for the day or when teachers have their planning blocks,
teachers can then focus on lesson planning, strategy development and data/grade
analysis. Is there really enough time for teacher to seek out new technology
opportunities that will compliment their classroom instruction perfectly? My
opinion is, no. However, if teachers can’t, who will? And more importantly, who
will inspire, advise and train teachers?
Technology
Specialist
School districts are now
dedicating more time and energy into the integration of technology. There is a
whole department of technology specialist in many schools that focus directly
on training and assisting teachers and staff with technology focused
instruction. Atlanta Public Schools employs Educational Technology Specialist,
who has the sole responsibility to explore, learn and teach teachers across the
district new resources to compliment instruction. From my experience, technology specialist
travel to their assigned schools upon request or when there is a required
training for all employees. Teachers and staff have the ability to request
one-on-one time for any technology need. However, I personally do not feel like
teachers use the specialist enough. The International Society for Technology in
Education has standards for coaches to reference and use. Every coach should
read, consider and reinforce these standards. The focus is detailed in a way
that it covers all angels – that’s are very important in education. The four
standards covered by the ISTE Standards are, (1) Visionary leadership, (2)
Teaching, learning, and assessment, (3) Digital age learning environments (4)
Professional development and program evaluation, (5) Digital Citizenship, and
(6) Content knowledge and professional growth are all expanded and broken down
strategically (ISTE, 2015). Click here for the
ISTE Standards for Coaches
Media
Specialist
Media Specialists are next in
line – or depending on the media specialist and his/her technology knowledge
and capabilities, they are on the same level in many cases. Media specialists
are expected to follow some of the same standards as coaches. I have noticed
that teachers automatically go to media specialist for technology issues or
reference. Their duties include training and exploring resources to incorporate
into the library’s resources. Media specialist also has the flexibility to attend
webinars, go to trainings or search for new resources to compliment various
lessons. In my opinion, media specialist can be more resourceful than
technology specialist because they actually work in the school; they know the
students and the staff; and they are familiar with the schools data. Media
specialists are accessible immediately and they regularly attend grade level
meetings. During lesson planning and weekly professional development, media
specialists have the opportunity to introduce and incorporate technology.
Overall, technology focus is
very effective when used in the right way. Training is very necessary and
having the support available is imperative. I agree with the standards and will
definitely add it as a reference when considering my position when incorporating
technology.
ISTE Standards
for Coaches. Retrieved March 2, 2015, from
http://www.iste.org/standards/standards-for-coaches
I like the way you separated the different types of technology specialists. While I do agree that LMS's do have the responsibility to keep up with technology I can see where it could get in the way as well. We are also supposed to be collaborating and teaching with teachers, not just problem solving technology issues. It is nice to help when needed as long as we also get to be a part of the teaching experience. By making sure the teachers realize that we are knowledgeable this could open doors to bring classes to the media center to also teach technology to students. We will have to keep in mind the ISTE standards so it will be important to know these and refer to them while doing our lesson plans. This is something I will keep in a binder as a great reference tool.
ReplyDeleteYou couldn’t be more right about the influx of technology and its needed integration into the classroom. Being in the classroom for 12 years and then becoming the media specialist I have been able to see both sides you mentioned for inclusion of technology. While teaching I had very little time to explore new technologies and ways to integrate them. Now being on the media/technology side of it I can see so many opportunities for teachers to use technology. Now we just need to find a compromise for both.
ReplyDeleteFor my school in particular, we have teachers that use technology all day every day and then ones that avoid it like the plague. I have not worked out all the details but I would like to have more individualized trainings for specific needs. That way teachers that are not familiar are not overwhelmed and teachers that are familiar are not bored. I am still working on this with my principal and hope to provide this type of training next year for my staff.
Our county also has a team of technology specialist that will come out and train the classroom teachers. But it is usually whole group as well and some people need it and some do not. It has been a challenge to say the least to meet everyone’s needs effectively in this area. Luckily my school is rather small with only 23 teachers so unique training sessions are not impossible. Thanks for your insight!
I like how you describe the separate roles of technology specialist and media specialist. It is interesting that the Atlanta schools offer technology specialists who go to the schools upon request or for a training opportunity. Due to our location and the smallness of our system, we actually have a technology support person (which isn't the same as a technology specialist exactly) AND an academic coach who does the research on how to help the teachers implement new standards as the requirements change at the state level. Like Shanda, we also have teachers who utilize technology everyday and others who don't much at all. Everyone has a Smart Board and we have a couple of nice computer labs, so the students do get technology in their day, but as your descriptions suggest, I believe there is more that a media specialist can do to assist the teachers in adding technology in the classroom. I am currently a media clerk, so I'm not quite in the role necessary to implement a great many changes, but hopefully I will be prepared to encourage opportunities that provide more than what the teachers currently have, and hopefully, they will choose to use them:) Thanks for your post!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with your blog. I have often considered taking more computer classes because as an assistant librarian at the public library I have learned that my job involves technology more than any other thing, including books. When the internet goes down, the patrons at my library go out of the door. So I could only imagine how much technology would matter to me as a media specialist. We are not librarians, we are cybrarians!
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