Building an EdTech Department part 2: Relationships -- Getting Runs on the Board

If your department and/or position is new, nobody understands what you do. They don't really know what your position or department does and quite frankly they are too busy to find out on their own. It isn't part of the culture of the school, so your first real job is to make it part of the culture. This will not happen on its own -- you must work at it. You need to win some hearts and minds. You do this by getting some runs on the board. 

The first thing that you must understand about being an EdTech Specialist (Technology Integration Specialist or Technology coach) is that you MUST build solid relationships with people and departments in your school. The first step in this process is to "get some runs on the board" as my friend Ben Summerton would say. You need to make some positive traction. Go out of your way to help people; be friendly; be helpful; be positive; be energetic; be industrious; be innovative; be open. You will annoy some people, but you will make more friends than enemies. It is the old, "You attract more bees with sugar than vinegar" approach and it works. The goal is to build an environment, a culture, of asking for help and learning new things. People become more innovative when they feel valued and supported and your position is a support position. Besides, the more people ask for help, the busier you will be and it will justify your position in the eyes of the admin team. This is especially important if you are a department of one. If you have the title of director or coordinator for a department of one, establish the need for your department. Find new ways to help the school community. Offer professional develop, make tutorial videos, create a blog, use a Google Classroom to share information, use technology to spread the word about what you can offer people.

Here are some real-life examples for you.

• Cruise the halls! Stop in on people who are having prep time. Just ask if they need any help. Most will say no, but some people will ask questions. Being friendly isn't a crime.
• I go out of my way to help PE and the Fine Arts department, because they usually get ignored. They love feeling like they matter to you. Care goes a long ways.
• I go out of my way to help elementary teachers, because they are usually working the hardest. They love knowing that you you respect their work and how difficult their jobs really are to do.
• Do jobs that aren't in your job description. A teacher was looking for help with her projector. It isn't my job, but I helped her. Showing you are willing to make something better for someone builds trust.
• Two teachers wanted to make a proposal for the school to purchase a 3D printer. They asked for some support looking for information about different printers -- the cost of the printers, what type of filament they use, how many print jobs can be done with a kilogram of filament. I could have easily pushed this back to them, but I did it. Besides, I'd like to have a 3D printer available at school. They're cool!
• I helped an elderly faculty member organize items on her computer. Again, it wasn't my job. I could have easily pushed back, but people need to believe they can seek help from you. Later she had me help her students make short music videos. By being supportive, I made more work for myself.
• I've arranged special training specifically for a department. These people could have came to one of my regularly schedule professional development sessions on the same topic, but they wanted to be together to work collaboratively on a project while using the technology tool, so I did it.
• Another administrator was struggling to power wash his division's Chromebook computers, I jumped in to help out. The two hours of my Saturday cut his burden in half and created solidarity.
• I also keep records of the types of jobs I do, how long they take, and who I worked with. This helps the rest of the admin team visual my position and work. I do this with a simple Google Form. You can find the form with this link. Please make a copy before editing. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/133vxwEeGpbum87zylYXhcicAf3U24hc4POyASXnz4vk/edit?usp=sharing

Get runs on the board and people will notice. Show you care and people will notice. Be industrious!

Part 1: Building an EdTech Department

Building an EdTech Department part 1

Back in 2007-08, Rich Boerner, the high school principal at KIS at the time, asked me if I would be up to being a half-time EdTech Specialist for the coming school year. At the time, there really wasn't a definition of the role; furthermore, I was also going to be the half-time middle school Dean of Students, which was a position created because the business office felt a full-time associate principal position wasn't necessary yet. Two half-time jobs. Anyone who has ever held two half-time jobs will be able to confirm that it is really like two and a half jobs, but I marched down the road anyway with Greg Israel, who was also going to be a half-time EdTech in the high school while also teaching two sections of Psychology. Bruce Roadside joined KIS as the EdTech Coordinator and we were on the road. Little did I know then, we would be part of the group of people who would define what an EdTech Specialist (Technology Integration Specialist) was going to be. 

When I ran across this jpeg of the What Can a Technology Integration Specialist do for You? I was delighted to see that the ideas and beliefs that many of the early adaptors became the definition of the role. I've also been delighted to see the growth in the field with so many amazing people who engage in this type of work. No blog post I could write could capture all the important names in the field of EdTech, but some people who I have worked with directly or influenced me are listed here: Kim Cofino, Steve Katz, Ben Summerton, David Gran, Mike Boll, Rob Newberry, Tyler Sherwood, and many more that I won't take the time to mention here and now.

But what I have noticed over the years, is that although the role has been defined, the method as not. Several people have done good work in defining coaching/mentoring, but no one as really set out the way you build an EdTech department from the ground up. How you take nothing and build something with it. People become EdTech Specialist or Technology Integration Specialist, but then what? How does one go about making the change in a school? What road map to success can be followed? Well friends, that is where this blog will be heading over the next few months. I intend to build the playbook of how to go from the title of EdTech Specialist to a successful department that influences change within a school. I sincerely hope that many of you will join me on this journey and even feel like contributing. The blog posts will cover various topics that I have found to be vital to the success of an EdTech program within a school. The final product will be a book that explains exactly how one goes about setting up a department and making it work. This will not be a philosophical guide, but rather a nuts-and-bolts how to guide.