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.” After speaking to three different people, I am reminded that “learning specialist” is often 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 only sometimes involve technology, we are the leaders in our schools for using it. I was thinking about removing the term “technology” from the title because 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 being the fixer/technician instead of 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 of my role and introduce the technicians who support the school network and AV. This has worked with monthly Tech Update blog information sharing about curriculum, instruction, information literacy, and technology infusion. Now that I am moving from a website to a blogging platform to share information, I will use this information conduit to share lessons learned and best practices to further demonstrate my position in the community as a teacher, learning specialist, and technology/information literacy leader.