Freeda Discussion 1-1

I think the technology integrator’s role is multifaceted. The person needs to work closely with the parents who of course want what is best for their children, administrators who are feeling the stress to succeed from every direction and the teachers themselves who want what is best for their students but can become overwhelmed trying to obtain that. The parents want to be assured that their students are receiving the best education available. Who wouldn’t right? As tax payers in the community, they want to be assured that the schools are not only successful for their own children but for the betterment of the community at large. Failing schools are not going to draw businesses to the area and then the value of real estate plummets. The technology integrator would need to work closely with the administration to help parents and community better understand the importance of investing the monies and time needed to technologically update the schools. He or she might work with the administration to better educate parents on the importance of investing money and time into new technology. The building level administration is pressured by the higher level administration to improve scores and implement the newest curriculum and policies all while staying in their tight budgets. This large array of important areas might mean that administrators may not want to seriously discuss implementing more technology into their schools currently. They may be too busy worrying about standardized scores and integrating Common Core State Standards into the schools to realize that investing in the appropriate technology could and should support the above mentioned administrative concerns. The technology integrator would have an important role in helping the administration understand the importance of these changes. Teachers are a funny group of people. We tend to want everything for our students, but then very quickly become overwhelmed by the amount of new learning or time needed to implement. As a technology integrator, it would be important to help teachers understand the various ways that the technology could be used in the classroom. Working with the teachers as they map out the curriculum and better identify their overarching goals for each unit would allow collaboration between the teaching teams and the technology integrator. This technology support would help the teachers to focus on a much deeper level of learning. According to Morehead and LaBeau (n.d.), This approach helps teachers focus on essential learning and promote active, inquiry learning. References Morehead, P. & LaBeau, B. (n.d.). The Continuing Challenges of Technology Integration for Teachers. Retrieved from: http:// www.usca.edu/essays/vol152005/moreheadrev.pdf