In
the journal Technology Leaders Wanted:
Acknowledging the Leadership Role of a Technology Coordinator, Williams
Sugar and Harold Holloman explain that the role of the technology officer has
evolved from that of a technology problem solver into more of a leadership
role. Sugar and Holloman explain that the role of the CTO falls into four areas
including instruction, technical support, analysis of technology needs, and
leadership. The CTO must be able to provide instruction to teachers on best
practices for the use of technology to best support student learning. This can
be done either through formal or informal professional development sessions and
can also be provided by modeling those best practices for the teachers. A
technology coordinator must also be able to provide technical support at the
individual, school, and district level. Not only does this require the CTO to
be able to solve technology issues regarding devices, hardware, and software,
but it also requires the CTO to be able to evaluate and recommend the purchase
of available technology products. The CTO is also responsible for analyzing the
effectiveness of the school and district technology plan and how the plan is
being implemented. Technology coordinators are responsible for identifying what
technology is available, what technology is being used by the district, and
whether or not the district is effectively using technology to meet the
technology plan and district vision. Finally, the successful technology officer
is responsible for providing leadership for teachers both verbally and through
action. Sugar and Holloman state that one of the most important role of the CTO
is to take a leadership role in developing and implementing the district plan
for instructional use of technology and in order to reach this goal it is
important for the CTO to collaborate and communicate with building level teams,
individual staff and with principals in order to help them successfully move
towards the district vision for technology use.
In Sycamore, the district technology
coordinator tends to provide leadership more at the administrative level and
relies heavily on the four building-level technology specialists for
communicating with principals and teachers. The CTO in Sycamore tends to make
decisions at the district level only and isn’t very visible to teachers. Once
the decisions are made, they are conveyed to the four building-level technology
specialists, who then bring the information, devices, or programs to the
schools that they work with. Unfortunately, this tends to make her (the CTO)
seem a bit unapproachable and prevents her from developing a rapport with
individual teachers. This also puts the responsibility on the building-level
technology specialists for bringing information in regards to the success of
implementation of the district’s technology use back to the CTO rather than
allowing her to evaluate the success of the technology plan on her own. This,
at times, seems to cause a bit of a disconnect between how technology is
actually being used at the classroom level and the decisions about technology
that are being made at the district level. This also tends to put a lot of the
responsibility for solving technology issues on the building-level technology
specialists rather than allowing them to focus on using technology (and
supporting teachers in their use of technology) to improve student learning.
Sugar,
W., & Holloman, H. (2009). Technology leaders wanted: acknowledging the
leadership role of a technology
coordinator. Techtrends: Linking Research &
Practice To Improve Learning, 53(6),
66-75. doi:10.1007/s11528-009-0346-y
