It’s been challenging to outline daily activities for a technology center monthly report because the technology specialist in the center does not do alot of his work at a central location. He manages an instructional technology lab but alot of the support seems to be provided outside of the lab: trouble shooting in the classroom, in faculty offices, or as phone support. Oddly, the fact that the technology specialist’s daily activities are so unpredictable is one of the things that appeals to me as I consider my future career goals. I spend at least 30 minutes a day trying to write a report that presents a complete picture of the role the center plays on the college campus.
The center analysis has been difficult for me because I’m not quite clear on the perspective I should be viewing it from. In other words, am I analyzing its role as it relates to the overall technology plan for the college or am I analyzing it as a stand alone unit? Today I visited the Director of Academic Technologies on the Georgia Perimeter College Lakeside Campus. The majority of the technology support staff is located on this campus. She emphasized that their actions are for the most part “faculty driven.” Her primary goal is always to listen and be responsive to faculty in order to provide the instructional support that they need, when they need it. In order to do her job efficiently and effectively, she requires networking & infrastructure support as well as support from the Office of Institutional Research and Planning for the evaluation of various pilot programs currently being implemented in classrooms on all GPC campuses. She highly values the input received from the Academic Technology Advisory committee which is composed of faculty members. Her advice to someone following in her footsteps is simply, “Don’t try to do it all at once. Pace yourself!”