Questions to be Answered
This study will determine what individuals who are identified as technology coordinators are doing in their day-to-day occupations. Because many of these positions are relatively new, the following questions are designed to determine what general skills and formal training is required of technology coordinators. Statistical information regarding the responsibilities of technology coordinators will be based on a survey (see SURVEY INSTRUMENT APPENDICES A AND B). Questions to be answered include:
1. What education/certification does a technology coordinator possess?
2. Does a technology coordinator usually have teaching duties?
3. What is the length of a technology coordinator’s contract?
4. Do school districts require that a technology coordinator possess a teaching certificate?
5. What are a technology coordinator’s primary responsibilities?
6. Why would it benefit a school district to hire a technology coordinator?
Definition of Terms
Terms and their definitions, as used in this paper, are defined below:
1. Technology Coordinator: "An educator at the school level or at the district level who works to facilitate effective use of a wide range of computer-related information technologies in instruction" (Moursund, 1992).
2. Library Media Specialist: A person with appropriate certification and broad professional preparation both in education and media with competencies to carry out a library media program, (AECT, 1977).
3. E-rate: A government regulated telecommunications rate provided to school districts – obtainable by application only, (U.S. Department of Education, 1998).
4. EDTECH: A listserv in which discussion is monitored by a moderator so that it does not stray from topics dealing with educational technology. Participants find it a useful source for gathering data.
5. Electronic Magazine: A website that publishes articles/documents electronically on a periodic basis much like print magazines do.
6. LM_NET: A listserv in which discussion is monitored by a moderator so that it does not stray from topics dealing with library media. Participants find it a useful source for gathering data.
7. DESENET: Listserv hosted by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in which discussion is primarily concerned with a variety of topics involving education.
8. LAN/WAN: Networking term referring to whether a district maintains a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN). LAN’s usually involve networking a single building or single campus whereas WAN’s may network buildings separated by many miles.
9. HTML: Hypertext Markup Language. The computer programming language involved in the creation of web pages.
10. Listserv: Electronic newsgroups where individuals who use the internet can subscribe. The lists make up an extensive e-mailing network where individuals can post questions to the list in hopes that someone also subscribing to the list may respond with an answer. Instead of subscribing to the list, individuals may simply look at discussion questions via an established archive. This database houses all questions posted to the list.
11. Electronic Mail (e-mail): A means of transmitting messages via an internet or networked connection.
12. Technician: Individual responsible for general maintenance of computer hardware and software. Troubleshooting and installations are also part of the job duties.