Roles in Technology

We have two unofficial technology "go to" people on our staff. I say unofficial because they do not hold a technology title of any sort, but if there are problems with our building's computers the rest of the staff seek out their help. It is great that they are so willing to spend their planning periods helping with technology issues.

These two individuals are classroom teachers who have very full schedules. It would be wonderful for them if we had an in-building technology specialist. This person would be in charge of ordering new hardware and software, fixing computer problems, and arranging staff development sessions. However, there simply is no funding for the position.

We do have a technology help desk that is housed in our administration building. They are responsible for assisting with technical issues over the telephone. This is not practical at times because the support personal are unable to see first hand where any hard problems may be occurring. Once, I had a bad cord and they had me bring my laptop to the administration building before the problem was diagnosed.

My department chairperson and I often handle the assistive technology issues within the special education department. I order new software and hardware for my kids and then we introduce it to them within one of the special ed. classrooms.