Why Every School Needs a Technology Director

This is a presentation that I gave at EARCOS Administrators Conference 2006 I have had to cut many of the slides out and all of the video, but I think the main ideas are still there.












The premise of the presentation was that schools did not become technology schools by natural evolution.
Pre-technology schools are in denial -
"we have projectors in every classroom"
- Overhead projectors don't count!












Pre-Technology schools have token technology access - not enough to influence teaching and learning.

Technology schools have

1:1 computing for teachers and students

Campus wide WiFi

Online curriculum

No intermediate technology like:

TVs

VCRs

Interactive whiteboards

Pre-Technology schools have a lack of investment in Network infrastructure
























Tech support should mean no downtime












Technology schools can make good use of the marketing opportunities of rebranding as a "Technology School"












What are the skill sets needed to make this happen?

Who can be a Tech Director? Many schools either promote their curriculum coordinator or Systems Manager.

Many bigger schools now have Tech Directors with skills from both camps

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EARCOS Administrators Conference 2006

“Shared Vision Through Collaboration, Technology and Global Awareness”


Ian Jukes : Understanding Digital Kids: Teaching and Learning in the New Digital Landscape. This presentation examined the new digital landscape and the profound implications this holds for the future
of education. It looked at what does the latest neuroscientific and psychological research tell us about the role of intense and frequent experiences on the brain, particularly the young and impressionable brain?

- I always enjoy listening to Ian Jukes as he is such a motivational speaker. I think as educators, we know that kids learn differently. They are used to multi-sensory stimulation and many do not respond well to "Talk and Chalk". I once had a class of 12 year old students listening to a Podcast on their computers. The boys especially, would not settle until they had a suitable visualisation on Windows Media Player to watch while they listened.

I teach in a 1:1 computing school and teachers complain that students get distracted. These are the same teachers who tune out of boring meetings when they have wireless access on their laptops. Students do the same, just more so. Teachers need to radically modify their practices to increase engagement.

My workshops:
Tablet Technology; its Application in Schools - Practical applications of tablet technology in the classroom. A comparison will be made between Tablets and Laptops and Tablets and Interactive Whiteboards. and why NIST has chosen to implement a one to one tablet program. A number of Tablets will be provided by a vendor for a “hands on” experience.


Why Every School Needs a Technology Director - covered in detail in a later blog

Technorati Tags:[1:1 Computing], [IBAP], [Technology], [Teaching], [International Schools],