Observer-Participant-Leader

The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) has outlined the Framework of Essential Skills of the K-12 CTO.  The framework is comprised of three primary categories.  These categories are Leadership & Vision, Understanding the Educational Environment, and Managing Technology & Support Resources.  Each category includes 10 essential skill areas that describe the responsibilities and knowledge necessary to become an educational technology leader.

Over the past two years I have focused my professional learning and participation more on the area of technology education.  This focus was partly because I was earning my EdS in Instructional Technology. The other reason is because I like technology, and I want to learn as much about technology as I can.

During this time, I have participated in several activities that fall into the categories of the Framework of Essential Skills.  I have written the school’s tech plan, I have taken on the role of the school technology representative, and I have been a member of the school budget committee.  Through all of these activities, I have been an Observer, a Participant, and/or a Leader.

During the 2014-2015 school year, I was active in writing the school’s 2015-2016 technology plan, and am on course to write the school’s technology plan for the 2016-2017 as well.  Throughout the course of writing the technology plan, I have been an observer, a participant, and a leader.  In the area of Leadership & Vision,  I observed 1C--the facilitating of priority setting and decision making for the use of technology to support the district’s goals.  My principal distributed a survey for teachers to complete based on their use of technology in the classroom and during instruction.  She then took the results of the survey and asked the faculty which areas they would like to focus on the following school year.  I was now a participant.  The principal then passed all information on to me, and I took on the role of a leader in the area of Strategic Planning (2C) when I aligned the technology team activities with the school district goals while writing the school’s tech plan in AdvancED.  Writing the technology plan also required me to take on a leadership role in the area of Stakeholder Focus (6C) as I collaborated to create a vision of how technology supported the district’s goals.

In the fall of 2014, I was appointed as the school’s technology representative.  In this role, I act as a liaison between the school and the district IT department.  I began as an observer in the area of Instructional Focus and Professional Development (4B) through communication and collaboration with the district instructional leadership when I attended the district technology meeting as my school’s representative.  During this meeting several topics were discussed such as steps to writing the school’s technology plan and BYOD pilot programs. During this time, I have been a participant in the area of Stakeholder Focus (6B) to build relationships with both teachers and members of the district IT department.  I have also been a participant in the area of Communication Systems (8C) to accommodate technical issues related to various communication tools as I am the first person to contact in the building regarding technical issues.  If I cannot resolve the technical issues using troubleshooting techniques advised by the IT department, I will then report the issues to the district IT department.  This role also allows me to be an observer in the area of Communication Systems (8F) as I shadow the IT member when they are in the school to maintain communication systems to ensure that all programs are updated, compliant, and operational.

In October 2015, I was chosen to be a member of the school’s budget committee. I was nominated to the committee by the faculty, primarily because I am also the technology representative.  While serving on this committee, I have been an observer and a participant in the area of Business Management.  I have observed how to make purchases following relevant laws, policies, and guidelines (9D), and how to manage funds by following basic financial and accounting principles and guidelines (9E).  I met with other members of the committee, and we discussed technology needs (as well as other school needs) in order to spend our budget funds.  We discussed appropriate vendors for purchasing technology, as well as quantities of items that required accounting guidelines to be followed.  I then took on a participant role as I managed the annual budget (9B) to determine the unit price of items and complete the budget form for purchases.  I am also a leader to manage and negotiate with vendors (9F) as I am to order the items and complete the purchase order(s) for the items.  These purchases will lead to future professional development in the area of technology (9H), and will be included in the 2016-2017 technology plan.

These are just three examples of how I have participated in the area of technology at my school.  I did not realize that I had participated in as many areas of the Framework as I had until I began reading through the 10 essential skill areas.  The CoSN’s Framework of Essential Skills is an excellent guide for teachers to follow when identifying their skills and knowledge in the area of technology.

**All information and definitions regarding the CoSN Framework was taken from the Consortium for School Networking (2015) Washington, D.C. http://cosn.org/framework