Upon completion of this program I will have attained two Master’s level degrees in education, an M.A. of Education with a concentration in teaching and Learning, and an M.S. of Education in Educational Technology. These two areas of study have provided me with the knowledge and skills to succeed as an Educational Technology Coach. The Occupational Outlook Handbook identifies average growth in the field of educational technology coaching, and my own experiences with technology integration in a high school setting have shown time and again the need for a designated, full-time educator to provide support for teachers as they work to change their practice to use technology in ways that will enhance student learning.
The concept of coaches in education is not brand new; however, as technology becomes more and more embedded into classroom practice, busy teachers find keeping up with changes and innovations in technology a challenge. The integration of technology into instructional practice involves both becoming knowledgeable of and proficient with a variety of instructional technologies as well as adopting new methods of instruction in order to make the best use of available technology in order to enhance student learning outcomes. Successful educational technology coaches collaborate with classroom teachers on both instructional strategies and technology integration, building teacher efficacy with technology use, while also facilitating the shift toward instructional practice which makes proper use of educational technologies (Halter and Finch, 2011; Skues and Cunningham (2013), Slagter van Troyen and Sugar, 2014).
As an educator with almost twenty years of classroom teaching experience I have often served as a mentee to new teachers, both formally and informally. While I still enjoy teaching my own classes, with my education and experience, I think that I need consider contributions that I can make to the profession by sharing what I have learned with inexperienced instructors. As an educational technology coach I can potentially impact more students by guiding new instructors as they struggle with the demands of teaching.
References
Halter, A., & Finch, J. (2011). Three R’s for Digital Coaching and Assessment. Learning & Leading With Technology, 39(2), 18-23.
Skues, J. L., & Cunningham, E. G. (2013). The Role of E-Learning Coaches in Australian Secondary Schools. Journal Of Computer Assisted Learning, 29(2), 179-187.
Snyder, S. C., Best, L., Griffith, R. P., & Nelson, C. (2011). The Technology Coach: Implementing Instructional Technology in Kean University’s ESL Program. Composition Forum, 24.
Sugar, W., & van Tryon, P. S. (2014). Development of a Virtual Technology Coach to Support Technology Integration for K-12 Educators. Techtrends: Linking Research And Practice To Improve Learning, 58(3), 54-62.