It's All Technology
This post is part of an ongoing series of chapters from the book CHOICE. Please view this post for an introduction and table of contents. To keep up with each new chapter published, please subscribe.
Everything in the school district has some technology component to it. That is the world we live in. Don’t confuse using technology with the job of the technology department. Just because something is done on a computer, doesn’t make it the responsibility of the technology department.
The technology department is there to provide support when things go wrong and to maintain systems to prevents things from going wrong. Very often I see a technology departments stretched thin because tasks are being offloaded to them.
A principal doesn’t know how to send out an announcement. They send the content to the tech department and ask them to do it.
A councilor doesn’t remember how to update a class in your student information system. They send the request to the technology department to complete.
A teacher can’t remember how to close out their grade book. They ask the tech department to do it for them.
Some tasks are only done once a year. Staff aren’t able to learn or remember how to complete the task. Those tasks often get bumped to the technology department.
If the technology department and the staff do not have clear lines and boundaries, many of these tasks become part of their responsibility. “It’s easier for us to do it, than to keep teaching someone how to.” It’s a common refrain that can be disastrous for the department.
The technology department needs to know how to do everything and support everything that utilizes technology. The technology department cannot be responsible for doing everything that utilizes technology.
Everyone in the school district is going to be using technology. Remember, it’s A Utility now.
Author Comments
Providing a peak behind the curtain of the thought and writing process.
This chapter is more of a rant from personal experience, but I’ve seen it repeated in many districts. You can debate if it’s good or bad that schools are becoming more computer dependent and centric, but it’s happening/happened. Not knowing or being uncomfortable on a computer is no longer an option.