Technology Director

Today we had Adam Hotchkiss who is the Technical Director at the Christian Academy of Knoxville.  He gave an overview of his responsibilities in new technology and how he has had a role in transforming  how the technology works in that school.  The leadership is crucial in planing for the long term use of your technology that you have decided to integrate into your school.  He also touched on the vision that you need to have as a technology coordinator and director and how will this technology impact your students down the road and also how does your vision compare to the school's mission.  Technology is more like the tool that supports education it is not an end all or a saving grace for the educational system.  You need to have a critical eye and an open mind when you are looking at new technology and how you can best serve the population of your school.  Being aware of the technology is important during this process, but you also have to be open to new and different resources.  Budgeting is a difficult process when you are in the role of the technology director because technology changes so quickly, prices fluctuate, and school budgets are tight.  You also need to be sure you remember the little things add up so be sure to set aside funds for the infrastructure and things that go into supporting the technology which you are buying as well as having alternatives funds to test out new technologies that are coming about.  After you have gotten the technology in place have a plan of how you want to educate your staff on how it works.  One idea is to have the teachers come in for an initial class and training and then you allow them to work with it for a few weeks before having them come back in for a question and answer system as well as going in a little more depth on the product.  I think the biggest thing that I gained from his presentation is the idea that with technology integration in the schools you need to keep in mind you can't change the whole technological framework of your schools in one swoop.  It is a constant reworking and integration of new technologies and resources so you have to be able to have a keen eye open for what would work and just be critical and real about how the technologies will actually be used in your schools.  I appreciated his viewpoint and what he had to say on his role at this school.