Educational Technology Specialists play the critical role of ensuring that teachers are armed with the resources, tools, and confidence to effectively integrate technology and best practices into their classrooms in an impactful way. This process provides a seamless integration that creates a culture of technology integration with the curriculum that feels natural and is not viewed as "something else to do." The role of a tech specialist is different each and every day, from school to school, and from classroom to classroom. This could look like modeling lessons, co-teaching lessons, helping teachers lesson plan, engaging teachers during their professional learning communities, modeling lessons for teachers, taking teachers through coaching cycles, providing innovative ideas to personalize learning for individual students, and so much more.
In my role as the Director of Instructional Technology and in conversations with my edtech circle of colleagues and friends, I have engaged in conversations around specialists that may find it difficult to "get into classrooms" to work with teachers and students for various reasons. Some people find it hard to establish relationships with teachers and administrators. Others don't have an understanding of what the principal desires and needs for their schools. Time is also a huge factor when they are responsible for supporting multiple schools.
Having served as in Professional Learning, an Educational Technology Specialist, Digital Learning Specialist, and now a Director for Instructional Technology, I believe there to be success in considering the heart. This is nothing ground breaking, however I believe that keeping each of these components at the forefront of the work each day, could cause the pendulum to swing in a positive way, paving the way for an ed tech specialist to be valued, in demand, and to become a part of the fabric in the schools they support.
Have fun!
An educational technology specialist is there to enhance the content and the curriculum. In this role, you are the knowledgable expert that has a toolbox filled with amazing tips, tricks, and resources that your teachers may or may not know about. Teachers are experts in their content areas. Bring the two together to bring learning to life for the students you engage with every day. Don't walk into your schools with the "I'm here from the central office" attitude. You are there to help teachers make learning fun! Be excited about what you can bring to teachers and students! Your energy, good, bad, or indifferent is contagious. I will never forget the time I served as an Educational Technology Specialist at one elementary school in particular. I entered the building and had to walk through the cafeteria to get to my destination in the school that day. The kids in the cafeteria all started screaming, "Heeeeey Ms. Rachell!!! Ms. Rachell!!! Hi Ms. Rachell!!!!" I felt like Beyonce in that moment! But what it made me realize, is that my work, my positivity, my attitude, and my knowledge were truly valued and appreciated by those students! I was the fun!
Employ others!
Let's be real...if you serve more than one school, you can't be everywhere at once. My team of tech specialists each support between 4-7 schools each. As an ed tech specialist, you will want to employ, encourage, engage, expand enable others to become mini edtech experts in their schools. How valuable would it be to have knowledgable teachers in your schools that can serve their peers while you are serving other schools? It's okay to build others up and share the knowledge! If you are introducing a new tool, for example, to your school, why not plan the delivery with a teacher at that school and co-present to the staff? That teacher now becomes your right hand for this particular tool and their peers can lean on them while you're at other schools. Everyone wins! What if you had to go out on leave? Who would step in during your absence? School and learning doesn't stop! Building up others to serve and be knowledgeable is a great thing!
Acclimate yourself!
Just like people, each school that you enter will be different. Leadership and administration will be different. The way that you will communicate with school leadership and the teachers there will be different. It is critical that you take the time to get to know the school culture, understand the vision of the principal, truly know their needs, read through and live their school improvement plans. Dissect these plans and see where your work as an edtech specialist fits. Come up with ideas that match their plan and share them with school leadership. Do not wait for the principal to tell you what they need you to do because they may not know what you are able to offer. Acclimate yourself with each school and ensure that your work and ideas align with that school. This will definitely look different for each school. And that's okay!
Relationships Matter!
This goes without saying and has become a little cliche, but it's true! Relationships truly do matter. Take the time to get to know your school's leadership, the teachers there, and the students. Become a part of the culture. This may require you to do attend evening events that the schools holds (ie, awards ceremonies, competitions, etc.). When the school staff sees you, you become a part of their family. Model lessons and coteach lessons with your teachers. When they see you invested and jumping in, they'll become more likely to include you in their classes. Think about how you will form relationships with the school staff. How will you communicate with them? How will you engage them in what you are able to do for them? You can't sit around and wait for them to ask you for your help. They have to know what you can do for them and this comes through building relationships. One suggestion, as you're getting started is to take their unit pacing guide and create an amazing lesson using engaging technology tools and resources. Find a teacher that is willing to try something new and present it to them or push into their planning, PLC's etc. Then offer to do it for them! We are better together!
Tell your story!
If you don't tell your story, someone else will. And 9 times out of 10, it won't be the story you want to be told. Tell your story! Find ways to highlight what you're doing so your impact swells throughout your schools. Use Twitter (X), blogs, short videos, TikTok, etc to tell your story. Of course you'll want to be cognizant of following the rules of the district on including students in your posts. Find a way to share with your prinicpals what you're doing at their schools so they are aware of your impact. This could be a quick video with highlights of you in the classrooms working with their teachers and students, it could be a quick email every Friday with bullets of what you've done. It could be a newsletter, etc. Be creative in the way that you share this information with your principals, keeping in mind that they may all communicate differently. They don't have a lot of team to read a super long email so keep it quick, impactful and to the point! Be sure to align what you're sharing to their vision. Another way to tell your story is to share it with the school community. Do you share a newsletter with the school staff? Do you highlight a tech tip each week? Are you highlighting the teachers that you work with and sharing their success stories working with you? Have you created an "EdTech Menu of Offerings/Services" with your teachers so they know what you do? There's a lot to consider here but this is such an important thing to do if you want be impactful in your work.
So there you go. Consider the heart. Again....nothing ground breaking here! These are simply good and best practices to help an edtech specialist become more effective and impactful (How many times can I say impactful in this post? LOL) at their schools.
What would you add to this list? Are you an edtech specialist? What have you found to be successful to ensure that you and your knowledge are in demand at your schools?
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