I recently started a ning network for Virginia independent school teachers, and within hours, my friend HIram pointed me to another network for independent school teachers in general. Demetri has done a great job that satisfies a clear need. I may end up spending more of my time there, as discussions about technology in teaching and learning are beginning.
Yesterday, someone talked about what we call ourselves, what our title means to other teachers. She advocated for taking "tech" out of the title. I understand her thoughts, as I’ve been grappling with similar feelings at my school. How do people perceive technology coordinators? Sure we can fix printers and help find cool projects, but is there more?
I commented with this:
I still prefer teachers to see me as kind of teaching "coach," one who
advocates for using technology to improve the way we all learn. I try
to model the concept of lifelong learning; I know I’ve learned more in
the past few months than I’ve learned in a long time, thanks to the
connectivity of the internet and the proliferation of tools we use to
learn.
That being said, I don’t consider myself the expert. When I visit other teachers who are using technology so effectively, when I hear them engaging students, I am envious. I want to be a student in their class! I hope I model what I think works best–all of us learning together, working together, creating together.
So what’s in a name?