Whitfield, Cheryl. The Five Essentials of Technology Facilitators: Successful Onsite Help for Technology Integration. Tech Learning, Apr 2005, http://www.techlearning.com/shared/printableArticle.jhtml?articleID=159901663.

           

            In Cheryl Whitfield’s April 2005 article, “The Five Essentials of Technology Facilitators: Successful Onsite Help for Technology Integration,” she answers the question that many school administrators ask, “What can I do to help my teachers integrate technology into their daily lesson plan?”  The answer to this question, she says, is to hire the right person to assist and support the teachers. When the NCATE and ISTE adopted the National Standards for technology in Teacher Preparation, a major component of the model was to have an onsite Educational Technologist (now called a technology facilitator) in every school. In Mississippi, the model has been implemented in 23 schools and the author feels that because of this statistic, it put Mississippi in the able position of offering suggestions for hiring Technology Facilitators (TF).

            Based on the experiences of the 23 models in Mississippi, Whitfield has developed the “Five E’s”: Experienced Educators, Enthusiastic Technophiles, Effective Trainers, Eager Mentors, and Exemplary Administrators. Whitfield admits, “that no one TF could possibly possess all of these qualities but the more of these qualities the person possesses, the more successful he/she will be on the job” (Whitfield, 1).

            Following are some highlights of the “Five E’s”:

Experienced Educator- A TF needs to know what goes on in a typical classroom from a teacher’s point of view and know how to deal with all students and learning styles.  Previously a TF needed to have three years teaching experience prior to becoming a TF, but because of limited funding, this standard could not be met.

Effective Trainer- To be an effective trainer a TF “must be able to teach technology skills as well as understand ways to use technology to support instructional goals” (Whitfield, 2). TF’s need to develop tutorials for teachers and students as well as model lessons, such as History and Math, using technology. They must also be available. According to Jamie McKenzie of www.staffdevelopment.org, “The best way to win widespread use of new technologies is to provide just-in-time support…assistance and encouragement when needed. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Now!” Many teachers get frustrated when using technology and stop so one can see just how important “Just-in-time” support is when integrating technology.

Eager Mentor-TF’s need people skills. They need to be able to deal with students, teachers, and administrators. This is quite a wide spectrum of learners.  Technical and instructional expertise must be balanced by interpersonal skills.

Excellent Administrator- A TF is not technically an administrator, but they do need to perform some administrative duties such as scheduling use and maintenance of computer equipment, making budgets, and scheduling teacher training. They also must keep records of all of the above, such as the number of hours they provided technical support and how many hours they spent training teachers. A TF must be able to use their time wisely and be very organized.

Enthusiastic Technophile – A TF must constantly be “in the know” when it comes to emerging technology. They need to be constantly searching for new ways to integrate technology in classrooms. They need to be excited about technology so that others feed off their excitement.  They need to walk around school hallways and peek into classrooms to see what teachers are doing and how students are learning, constantly searching for new crevices to integrate technology.

            Overall, the Mississippi model found that if a school can find the right TF, one who possesses most of the “Five E’s”, the school will see an increase in teachers’ technology skill levels, greater use of technology within the schools, and enthusiastic support from teachers, students, and parents. I found this article to be very exciting and motivating, especially to a person looking to enter the TF career. The “Five E’s” are characteristics we can all strive to possess and help us when we “lead in the development and evaluation of district technology planning and implementation” (Standard TF-VIII.D).