There's a Better Way to do IT in K-12 Schools

In your role as a "Tech Coach" or any of the 200+ EdTech integrationist titles that exist, ask yourself this question:

What are you really doing in this role? Are you solving the real problems, or is your “heroism” helping to hide them?

"This is what I now recognize as the first trap of educational technology work: individual heroism masking collaborative infrastructure failure. We are the people who make misaligned/broken communication, collaboration and tech systems appear functional—and in doing so, we make it more likely these dysfunctional systems (and non-systems) remain."

Not sure? Read the article: Why I Stopped “EdTech Coaching”

What is in this for you?

-Reclaiming and affirming your professional identity for yourself and others
-Personal wellness through clarity, predictability and replacement of “heroic”, "coaching" and other non-aligned narratives

-Focus on sustainability: change the conversation from tools/devices/apps to behavior and culture
-Clarity: the beginning of the end of "role confusion"
-Job Security: Actually deliver tangible value and results, not just "What you did"
-Language & methodology to demonstrate value/achievement when considering external/corporate work outside K-12

What is in it for you, via the work you do with others?

- You demonstrate respect for other's time & expertise versus adding complexity and seeing others as needing "fixing".

- You facilitate meaningful, impactful outcomes for all teachers and students (e.g., more "good days" for all, not just a few)
- You provide practical immediate support to problem-find up front versus just problem-solving when things go sideways
- You collect transparent metrics/data for not just what you "did", but together what you actually "changed" for the better

IF its not about "coaching" & "Tool Training" what's it about?

why Are you Playing Hockey when you need to be DOING Ballet?

Why Does your School's Org Chart Repeatedly Produce Suboptimal solutions?

What Happens When People Who Understand the Work Can't Guide it?

Why areN't you & Your Colleagues Oriented & supported in Collaboration?

The SAMR, TIM, TPACK, Triple E, PIC-RAT, EdTech integration "Frameworks" emerged beginning about 20 years ago but all (falsely) assume the existence of clear collaboration systems between Admin, IT, teachers & integrationists. Consistent, systemic, upfront collaboration simply doesn't exist in most schools.

What would it look like to shift from being valued for how many fires you fight to being valued for how many fires you stopped from happening?

What happens when smart, committed people have the language and tools for thought to collaborate effectively across the community?

Okay, Great. Now What?

If you're wondering if you can do better than:

Endless role confusion
Drive-by "tool tipping"
"EdTech Influencer" badging and edtechochamber treadmills
Having to announce what you do to the community every year because nobody understands/remembers.
"Instructional coaching programs" (Knight, Google, AACIS, etc) which are almost always oriented around 1 to 1 interaction, which completely neglects that EdTech Integrationists are (and should be) working with IT teams, Admin teams, and teachers/teaching teams, not just "teachers 1 on 1" like other "instructional coaches".

Then, you might benefit from a "synergist" approach to EdTech integration, which you can find all the resources for here.

Synergist Project FAQS (Dropdown)

Why did you Make This? This is All Free?

The simple answer is, I created this because nobody else was doing it. I've been a classroom teacher in a half dozen subjects, every flavor of tech integrationist/digital learning coach, an IT support professional and a school administrator, and none of these interdependent groups seemed to understand the other's constraints, nor work together well consistently in any school I have ever been in. My action research and experience across each of the four domains uncovered better ways to approach technology integration than currently practiced, and once you see the problem clearly, you can't unsee it. In short, it is my effort to be the change I wish to see. Yes, it is all free. I know my market, and if there is one thing I know better than anything else about EdTech people, the expectation today is no different than it was a decade ago-- everybody expects everything to be free, and I am terrible at selling anyway, so let's just make it happen for people and figure the rest out later.

I don't Have time For Another system! How Am I going to do this AND All the "Coaching" I do now?

If you want to be a coach, be a coach. You can keep "coaching" and providing "tool tips" and keep everything you're doing now if that "system" is working for you, but many "coaches" are actually dealing with "non-systems" masquerading as systems, and that's all great...until one day it isn't.

Instructional technology coaches report there are several aspects of their position that cause persistent challenges, and this project is geared to solve those problems. If you have problems with people not understanding your "coaching" role, blurred lines between your role and infrastructure roles, not having the time you need, communicating consistently with all stakeholders, teachers not opening their doors and claiming they don't have bandwidth for "one more thing"...then you're in the right place. You're also in the right place if you are looking to exit Education but don't know how to market yourself, as "Helped teachers with technology" is not going to cut it on job applications. This material gives you a framework to begin quantifying the actual value you deliver, not just what you "did".

...BUT COaching Works in my School, Everything is great, Why Would I Change Anything?

Wonderful! Please let us know where you work so we can learn from you!

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