How could I be a successful tech leader? While reading through Chapter 1 of “The Technology Coordinator’s Handbook”, Frazier gives 4 broad skills for a successful tech coordinator. As I continued to read through the chapter, I found myself making mental notes about which skills I felt I possessed and which skills I need to acquire. I believe I possess a large number of the personal skills required such as a passion for technology, strong organizational skills, patience, good interpersonal skills, etc. Although I have a broad spectrum of tech knowledge, the area I feel weakest in is network infrastructure. I like to be good at what I do, so before I would even consider applying for a position as a technology leader, I would like to become more educated in this aspect.
What challenges do I foresee in this position? In our district, I see one challenge to be man-power. We have 4 elementary schools, 1 middle school, 1 high school, and 1 administration office. We currently have a tech support staff of 3 along with 2 technology coaches. These staff members are kept in a constant state of OVERLOAD. I found it interesting that during class the other night, someone brought up that they would in no way want their district’s technology leader’s job due to the work overload. It seems like this might be a reoccurring theme in many school districts. Although I’m confident in myself, at this point in time, I see this as the biggest challenge I would face as a technology leader.
From what I read in your post you seem like you would be a great leader. It is great to have as much technical knowledge as possible for the technology coordinator position but there are ways around not knowing certain things. You mentioned that you feel your weakness is in networking so you can always ask other staff members to teach you the system or have outside vendors help out with the work while you are reading and studying up on the system. As long as you are willing to put the time in and you can catch on relatively quick you will do just fine.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to the OVERLOAD you are definitely right. School districts are extremely short staffed and you have to learn how to prioritize and be organized. Unfortunately, you can not do the work of ten people and certain people will get mad at you but just keep in mind that you can never make everyone happy. Get ready to work hard and put in some relatively long hours.