Last night, I received an email from someone asking me about a career in K-12 Instructional Technology.  They wanted to know if I had any advice.  Yes, I got a bit “preachy…”

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Good morning!  I just read your emails and wanted to send a response to your questions about getting into the field of K-12 Instructional Technology.  First off, welcome to the Wilmington area.  It’s a great place to live.

Now, regarding getting started in K-12 Instructional Technology, you should be prepared for anything.  Technology facilitators at both school and district levels have exciting and challenging day-to-day lives.  As I see it, our primary role is to fill the gap between where technology and society are moving and where are schools and classroom instruction currently operate.  You will be expected to understand every piece of hardware from video cards to motherboards to handheld devices like iPods.  You will be expected to be a master of every piece of software in the school from Microsoft Access to Reader Rabbit.  Is this humanly possible?  Of course not.  However, the key is having solid people skills and being able to communicate with the students and teachers you serve.  Never fake it.  Teachers will know right away, and students will eat you alive.  A key phrase to learn is, “I don’t know the answer to your question.  Let’s figure it out together.”

My second key piece of advice is that you should never go it alone.  Through technology you can begin to build a customized support group and network.  Find others who are working in the field.  Use Skype, Twitter, and Facebook to connect to them.  Read their blogs.  Go to the conferences (such as NCTIES) and hear them speak.  Engage them.

To survive and succeed in K-12 Instructional Technology, you must embrace your inner geek.  If you don’t get excited about the newest gadgets on the market, if you aren’t almost giddy with excitement over what they might look like when used in a classroom, but most importantly, if your ultimate goal doesn’t revolve around students, then this isn’t the field for you.  When technology is your oxygen like it is for students today (a la Chris Lehmann), you know you’re on the verge.  Our field needs folks like that.  You should always be an advocate for the students..

In K-12 Instructional Technology, you have to be a voice for change, because you can see the earthquake that’s coming.  Our schools may soon become, as Scott McLeod calls it, Dangerously Irrelevant, in a time when information flows freely online and so many competing forces are on the horizon.  Why listen to a teacher recite the textbook when I can Google exactly what’s important to me and get the results in less than a second?  The irony is, we need teachers now more than ever, classroom teachers who know how to integrate technology into their standard course of study, who can teach students how to find and filter relevant information through technology, and who can, using technology, differentiate learning experiences for students.  Oh yeah, your job is to help teachers reach that point, too.  Build your capacity so you can build theirs.

So, should you be scared?  Absolutely!  This field is not for just anyone.  Heaven knows we have enough dead weight and barriers in K-12, anyway.  Personally, I love it.  I eat it, drink it, and sleep it.  Should you land a position, I’ll be happy to help you get plugged into an incredible network.

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