What is in a Name? – Part II
I was planning to make this post about a possible new name for those of us in instructional/educational technology stressing how we are teaching partners focused on student learning. The job title would be “learning specialist”. Well, after speaking to three different people, I am reminded that “learning specialist” often is connected to resource teachers so it doesn’t quite work.
All three individuals pointed out that while the instructional technologist can help design lessons that don’t always involve technology, we really are the leaders in our schools for using it. One reason I was thinking about removing the term “technology” from the title is that it carries so much baggage for many educators. We know the fear factor many feel concerning using technology in general but there is also the “tech guy” connotation that goes with it as well. Being the “tech guy” often means the fixer/technician as opposed to the fellow teacher and learning specialist.
One of the ways I start each school year is to meet with teachers in grade level teams to refresh their memories as to what my role is and to introduce the technicians that support the school network and AV. This has definitely worked along with monthly Tech Update information sharing about curriculum, instruction, information literacy and technology infusion. Now that I finally starting blogging, I will use this information conduit sharing lessons learned and best practices to further demonstrate my position in the community as a teacher, learning specialist and technology/information literacy leader.
