Benjamin Ayres
EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY COACH
Building an Educational Technology Coach
Introduction
In applying for Instruction and Coaching: The Introduction of Coaching for Educational Technologists, it was my hope that I would be continuing to develop myself as an Educational Technologist (ET). So many times as an ET I see teachers using tools that don’t work or they are simply using the wrong tool. There is an apparent disconnect between teachers and technology. I also have been confronted with many tasks that are not related to education. I have now been an ET for three years and still find myself jumping between the perceptions of many different jobs in the school. My goal in this course was to be able to have a design of what Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) wants of ET’s, so that I could bring it back to Kadena Elementary School (KES) and build off of that framework. I plan to build an understanding among the faculty and staff at KES of an ET as an instructional coach who cares about them as people and is willing to develop technology lessons in a collaborative atmosphere. In this paper I will be developing a schematic of what I perceive as my future coaching role as ET at KES.
ET as Coach
The foundation of knowledge I have gained from the ET coaching class has allowed a development within myself as a conversationalist, given an understanding of different coaching theories, and has helped in developing my own future as an ET in DODEA. The conversation planning assignment was particularly enlightening as it provided an opportunity to develop the skills that are needed to work with the students as well as teachers. I was unaware that the teacher may want to learn specific technology skills. My usual focus was directly on the students. This gave me the opportunity to look back and realize that although students are often the ultimate learning objective teachers too may want to learn a specific set of skills as well. This assignment also allowed me to reflect in my own understanding of teachers and the importance of connecting to them in a deeper relational mode. Understanding this connection is essential when utilizing the instructional coaching theory. Time, knowledge, and consistency creates the trust and rapport that is necessary to cultivate the relationships needed. Treating teachers as equal partners is another important aspect of instructional coaching that I found resonated with my own thoughts of what it meant to be an ET. Giving teachers choices of how, when, and what they learn is essential in this type of coaching.
By Benjamin Ayres
“A pencil is a tool. A computer is a tool. Technology is a tool. The solution to many workplace problems lies not in the tool, but in the person who uses the tool to solve a problem.”
Reed Markham, American Educator.
This is a picture of me directing my first musical "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown".
(Photo credit: Cathy Pickens)
Teaching Lego Robotics and programming using NXT Robotics.
(Photo credit: Linda Stanford)
Teaching electronics and currents using the Makey Makey.
(Photo credit: Melissa Rhinehart)
Professional Development
As I look ahead in the development the faculty and staff at my school I see unending areas of growth for my faculty and for myself. I am very excited to advance my own understanding on the different coaching style as outlined in the course. Many of the coaching styles seem outlined but not well defined. I would like to spend time understanding the unique qualities of each and actually try implementing them. I would also like to experiment more with the online platform Schoology. It seems to have many more tools than what was used in this course and I would like to explore it to its fullest potential by having my own course. Finally, I would like to be able to incorporate what I have learned and share it as part of my master’s degree in educational technology program at Michigan State University. This master’s level program has neglected teaching these coaching styles as part of their curriculum. The Michigan State program promotes the use of the Technology Pedagogy and Curriculum (TPC) model as a way to blend the education world into the technology world but they spend little time on developing the coaching aspect. I will complete and finish this coursework in the summer. Finally, I would like to work more with media creating videos, sound, and animation projects. I see this area as the next major leap forward in creating engaging technology lessons and I would like to be able to be a leader in the field of educational technology.
Coaching
Many of these concepts I already use, but to actually attach it to a coaching schema was a learning opportunity for me. This coaching class has given me resources to help cultivate my practice well into the future. Using the coaching plan that was created during the class I will be able to employ many different initiatives at my school. The coaching plan outlines six major pillars that will assist in focusing my efforts at the school level. First, I will create a blended class (both online and face to face format) incorporating surveys, soliciting for students, and developing coursework that will promote the use of Schoology, GAFE, and Project Based Learning. This will give much needed skills to the faculty as well as help to spark an interest in seeing technology as useful tools. Having a blended classroom will also assist in developing the ET as coach role and give the teacher a flexible environment so they can plan their week accordingly. Next, in defining the role as ET, I will create a presentation for the faculty and guide the teachers into planning more projects together in cooperation with their curriculum. As a technology leader will also be incorporating the ELEOT in order to present a real need to incorporate technology. Then, I will hone my leadership skills within the CSI framework and the technology committee team. Following that, I will develop programming curricula at our school promoting the Hour of Code across the entire school and having a school wide robotics tournament in order to compete at the district level. Finally, I will be constructing and developing the school website by using the Web Content Management System (WCMS) as the primary website using Sharepoint and Sharepoint Designer to create workflows in order to have the school function smoothly. I believe that through construction of these different projects our school will be ready to move into the 21st Century.
This is a typography project a student created for me in my imaging class.
(Unknown)
Conclusion
The focus of coaching has been extremely helpful in creating a foundation for designing my own philosophies in ET coaching. The Educational Technologist is one of the newest educational positions in DODEA and defining it has been difficult. To clearly express the concept of coach to the rest of the faculty at KES and to start saying “no” to things that do not apply will be the most difficult thing to implement. Changing the view of ET’s from digital secretaries to ET coach will ensure that I spend most of my time working with teachers and not on equipment and this class has made it possible for that transition.
This is a Photoshop lesson that I was giving for my yearbook students.
(Photo credit: Unknown student)
Defining ET
Overall, this course has impacted me as an ET. It has provided me with a cornerstone by which to build the ET role as coach. For the past 3 years I have been struggling to define my position among the various assigned jobs from admin, teachers, and job descriptions. I am going to have a hard time selling the idea to my faculty and staff as a culture has developed to ask the ET first concerning anything technology related. With a large school such inundation of requests can get overwhelming quickly. This coaching class has also given me personal goals to which I can strive to achieve. In the past, I have created school-wide goals with no direction for personal focus or growth. Finally, connecting with other ET’s across the Pacific that are dealing with the same common issues within the DODEA infrastructure was one of the most rewarding things that I will use from this course. DODEA is such a unique educational institution. Many times outside technologists don’t understand the issues we face. This class gave me the time and ability to work with, solve problems, and create with others with similar interests. Those collegial relationships are going to be the most impacting factor as I face problems and issues in the future.