Technology+Facilitator+Standard+7

TF/TL Standard VII

Procedures, Policies, Planning and Budgeting for Technology Environments

Researchers have stated that the accessibility of technology is the strongest predictor of technology use in the classroom. Without adequate teacher support, teachers will give up and not effectively utilize technology. TF/TL Standard VII is mostly about the managerial and technical jobs that are required to ensure a high-quality access to technology for students. Technology leaders’ tasks are to design, implement, and support technology rich environments. There are four stages relating to the effective implementation of access to technology. They must select appropriate technologies that are aligned to content standards, decide how to arrange the technologies, budget for ongoing improvements, and develop a timeline for projects. Facilitators and leaders need to select appropriate technologies that can be used by teachers with ease. Facilitators and leaders should arrange technologies for high quality access. Facilitators and leaders should budget for new technologies’ current and ongoing costs. These include costs associated with end-user equipment, infrastructure, installation, professional development, software, technical support, operations, and replacements and upgrades. Local school systems, federal governments, and grants all help fund new technologies. Facilitators and leaders should effectively prepare a timeline for technology projects. They must acquire RFQ’s and RFB’s. They can get board members involved with decisions about new technology advancements. Finally, facilitators and leaders get to follow through with implementation. However, their job is not close to being done yet. They must provide high quality maintenance and support for teachers. They should provide support with LAN, hardware, user, management and administrative and other technical supports. Exemplary support plans will exhibit routine maintenance plans, trouble tickets so that users can request support, policies to prioritize requests, prompt responses to requests, low computer downtime, high client satisfaction, acceptable use policies, and securities. This is a very important job of the teacher leader and facilitator. This will probably be my favorite part of my job as a facilitator. I love getting organized and enjoy seeing a final product. Seeing students using the technology I have chosen and watching teachers utilize it will be the payoff for the job well done!

Williamson, J. & Redish, T. (2009). //Technology facilitation and leadership standards: What every K-12 leader should know and be able to do//. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.