Teacher/ed. tech person at a high school. Is that a real position?

I am wondering if there are districts out there that have teachers who also serves as an ed tech specialists. Someone who might help other teachers integrated classroom 2.0 tools or even just other basic technology.

I am trying to convince my district that we need that position but I need to show them that there are people out there who do that. Have you heard of any? Thanks!

Tags: ed, instructional, job, tech, technology

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Permalink Reply by Julie Baird on October 8, 2008 at 4:19am

Our school received a one-to-one grant this year. Five English classrooms were equipped with 30 computers each for the students. The regular desks were removed and the students only have the computers as their work stations. Part of the grant involved having a teacher trainer for the one-to-one labs. I believe her official title is the one-to-one coach. We call her the tech liasion. She's also a teacher. She teaches 3/5 of the time and 2/5 of her time is spent working with other teachers to show them how to use technology in the classroom and use it effectively.

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Bosch on October 8, 2008 at 6:37am

Sounds like a fun job BUT a heck of a lot of work. Reminds me of the guys on the old Ed Sullivan show spinning plates!!

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Permalink Reply by Gary Miller on October 8, 2008 at 3:23pm

We had them in our district for a number of years. We were call "Instructional Technology Specialists". It was a great job, as I felt I was actually helping teachers every day. Most teachers don't have time to integrate technology into their daily lives. With help, many of them were able to feel more comfortable using technology with students.

Unfortunately, when budget cuts were needed, we were the first thing cut. Sadly, technology use in our district has suffered as a result.

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Permalink Reply by Patty on October 8, 2008 at 6:09pm

I am presently working as a Technology Education Specialist in an Orange County NY District. I am not alone either. My district has a technology team of 6 people total. One is our Network Administrator, another is a technician, and then there are 4 instructional people that are under the teachers contract. Often times we cross lines of technician work because we trouble shoot and fix hardware besides instructing and supporting teachers. Also our network administrator and technician teaches classes. It really is a nice arrangement all in all. In the past before I was hired this particular district did away with all technology personnel but then they built it back up to this structure.

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Permalink Reply by William Peterson on October 9, 2008 at 9:28pm

Actually high school really need kinda ed. tech specialists for increasing ict classroom requirements. I remember that, when my college ordered Blackboard in 2005, most teachers really cannot caught up the any features more than task assignment and file attachment. We really need some tech guys for sorta educational related technologies, I think. But unfortunately there's no such guys in our campus currently.

William Peterson
http://www.sameshow.com/blog/

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Permalink Reply by Tom Kennedy on October 10, 2008 at 3:53am

Hi Dave,

Rest assured that we (I am an Instructional Technology Specialist) exist. I serve the middle school and high school in my district of about 2,500 students, 700-800 kids at each of my locations. My district has a strong commitment to technology integration and there are two of us, my colleague works at the three elementary schools.

We meet monthly with district administration to discuss related issues. This year our state (CT) is requiring re-writes of tech plans, so we are working on that as well. I support Moodle, teach applications in curricular contexts, help determine policy, and proselytize in support of educational technology (among other things.) We have an excellent IT dept that keeps hardware and network running.

This year the high school just finished renovations that included Promethean Activboard installations in every classroom. That is what I have been working on lately, but I create and deliver technology infused lessons with the library media specialists (at both locations) as well hold regular PD sessions. I have a great (if very busy, in demand) job. I confess that given the economic meltdown the nation is in, I am concerned about how long the positions will last.

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Permalink Reply by Julia Ray on October 11, 2008 at 5:17am

We have lots of ed. tech folks in our district. Each school has one assigned. Most of them from middle school down also teach classes. My school is a little different. Because we are small I do all the teched things and do in-service for our teachers, maintain computers, etc. and teach the secondary computer/business/marketing classes.

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Permalink Reply by Scott Harrison on October 11, 2008 at 2:08pm

yep!

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Permalink Reply by Mark Carls on October 11, 2008 at 6:47pm

I work for a BOCES system that provides services to school districts in 2 counties in Western New York and for the first time we have 2 districts that have purchased my services for a day a week. We'll be making a presentation to superintendent's later this month, but it has worked very well and I know a few people are upset that I'm only there a day a week! We'll see what happens. Good luck.
Mark Carls

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Permalink Reply by Irene Hopp on October 12, 2008 at 7:00pm

The Springfield Public Schools in Mass have both District Technology Specialists (D
ITs) and School technology Specialists (SITS) There are about 12 of us. It is a wonderful position!!! There is so much to do to help teachers. We give trainings during school, after school, and during professional development days. We also write and administer tech grants and present at conferences. We do keep track of what we do and with whom using handibase for Palm Ziers. It is very interesting work and because it is part of No Child Behind, it is very important. Most teachers are way behind on integrating technology into the classroom. We provide an invaluable service. Check out our technology resources on http://www.sps.springfield.ma.us go to staff and teacher resources and click on technology resources. Also check out our monthly newsletter for teachers.

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Permalink Reply by Gregory Hewett on October 12, 2008 at 11:10pm

I teach at the American International School of Chennai and we have now moved to fully integrated I.T. curriculum - no more I.T. classes. We have three I.T. integrators that work along side teachers - one in the elementary, one in the middle and one in the high school. We are a school of about 750 students.

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Permalink Reply by leewin on October 12, 2008 at 11:42pm

Our school district just hired for a position that involves those qualifications. They act as a liaison right now between IT and making sure teachers know how to use new technologies in classrooms. Speaking from personal experience some people fall into those positions, such as myself where I was teaching full time and managing a network and troubleshooting computers when I had time. A lot of stuff I had to learn myself but the experience I gained was rewarding. It also helps the teachers to have someone to explain to IT why the tools or information they need is important to their teaching.

Anyways that's my 2 cents. Hope it helps and good luck!