Learning and Leading - December 2009/January 2010

could be a complicated job because administrators and teachers tend to focus on students and achievement, and IT techs are mainly concerned with infrastructure. When I started my position, there were no guidelines except to make sure teachers and administrators were supported and that IT kept things working in the classroom.

I began by setting up meetings with each site administrator to determine specific problems and needs. Some sites needed assistance with the video-on-demand system, and others needed basic instructions for setting up classroom computers.

These meetings also allowed me a chance to do some basic troubleshooting, and sometimes I was able to fix problems immediately.

It’s in my nature to solve problems, ask questions, listen carefully to instructions and answers, and communicate needs clearly, so it was easy for me to clearly explain problems to IT, which helped streamline the support process. The rapport I developed paid off. Administrators and teachers began asking me for assistance when equipment broke down or systems failed because I spoke this foreign language of IT.

My site visits also unveiled some kinks in the system. I discovered that many teachers were unaware of the district’s tech plan and didn’t know we had switched servers from Windows to Linux. This caused headaches for one school when officials purchased software that wouldn’t run on Linux. Had they read the tech plan, school officials would have understood that all equipment must be cleared through IT to avoid situations like this. It was a valuable lesson.

It is not unusual for teachers and administrators to become frustrated when they cannot articulate how they’d like to see technology integrated into the curriculum.

program in a way it was not designed for. At the same time, IT technicians can become so focused on system and hardware upkeep that they are unable to help teachers integrate tools effectively in the classroom.

Solving these conflicts comes down to listening and problem solving. When teachers complain that their students cannot access the school servers from home, a helpful IT tech should offer alternatives, such as suggesting they store data on USB drives or use the file section of the student learning environment.

When the video-on-demand system goes down, the easiest thing to do is move students into another classroom. That’s fine for a temporary fix, but classroom disruption can ruin a well-thought-out lesson. Rather than just demand to have the equipment fixed immediately, which never goes over very well, a teacher should explain the impact on the students and make a case for getting a quicker permanent fix. After all, we’re all here to help improve student achievement, and IT techs generally will accommodate such requests if they understand the justification.

about programs he has developed for our district. His first exposure to an ed tech conference was to support a teacher whose students were asked to present their project at the California CUE conference.

After spending some time walking through the exhibit hall together, we talked about what was working and what was not in the classroom. He got a better understanding of what a classroom teacher needs, and he later got the chance to collaborate on some projects. He has since become involved with ed tech organizations such as K– 12 Open Source and the Consortium of School Networking (CoSN). He has also become very involved with open-source programs, and he has helped our school make tremendous strides in technology integration.

Failure to Communicate It is not unusual for teachers and administrators to become frustrated when they cannot articulate how they’d like to see technology integrated into the curriculum. It’s very common, for example, for a teacher to ask to use a

Mutual Understanding Getting IT techs involved beyond the nuts and bolts of system upkeep is key to getting them to buy in to your projects. Three years ago, our IT director, Jim Kein, would never have attended conferences such as Computer Using Educators (CUE) or ISTE’s annual conference and exposition. Now he not only attends, but he presents

Newfound Cooperation

Now our IT department looks for ways to streamline tech support. It was our IT director who implemented a help desk, a simple phone number that teachers can call to get assistance quickly. If the question can’t be handled over the phone, the technician will take over the computer remotely using virtual network computing and try to correct the problem. If the situation cannot be resolved, the next step is a repair request. Even teachers who are reluctant to call appreciate the efficiency of the help desk.