The environment we live in for ED Tech IT is one that is unique in many ways. It is a challenge to make progress in the face of struggles that might be out of your control. Others desire to move forward with educational efforts that pull you in because there is always a technology component. They see a demo or hear of another school that is using some tool that you have not deployed. They want it and they move toward making it happen. Here are a few of the challenges that you might face:
The Authority Challenge – you may have no Org Chart authority. The IT Leader might be able to influence from a distant, but there may be little assistance from the Org Chart. Trying to make the widest impact and plan for the next wave of technology might be tough without a hook into the highest teams. Not every district understands the importance of having the IT Leader sit at the highest level of the strategic planning efforts. Executive Cabinet or Administrative Cabinet are the area where schools should think of pulling in the IT Leader.
Constriction of Having No Control – cost, time or resources. You may not have control of where your funding might come from or if it will even be defined as part of your budget. Your time and your staff time may be lock into putting out fires. Your resources might be stretched to the limit. All of these will restrict your effectiveness.
Ambiguity of your Duties – who defines what you do. Is it your job description? I think not. It widens every day. There are more tasks added, more functions needed and more time devoted to things that did not exist last year.
Requirement to move between Manager and Leader roles – This is unique to the role you play. You are asked to provide superior management of all areas of technology and also desire to lead others and technology to new heights. You have to swap hats all day long. At any given time you are called on to manage and to lead.
Change is Good – So good that education changes everything all the time. Educators are looking for ways to reach students, provide interesting ways of learning, use technology in new ways and refresh their toolbox when they find new tools. You are called upon to manage and lead this effort.
Expanding Scope – If they buy it, you have to support it. We have all been hit by this. Someone shows up on Monday trying to install some new tool they found over the weekend. They buy a new printer at Best Buy because the old one did not work as expected and they want you to make it work. They contact IT because something is not working – and you did not even buy it.
This is the environment that we all live in with ED Tech IT. Trying to improve while others are making changes that we cannot control makes the job tough.
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