Sunday, January 3, 2010

Ed Tech and Info Tech Doesn't Have to Be "Us vs. Them"

Yesterday, @socratech, one of the people in my Twitter network, posted to his blog some interesting thoughts on the experience/skill set the leader of a school technology department should have. Since then, a robust stream of comments has popped up on his blog, and I have taken part in the conversation. Because this is a subject I have some definite opinions on, I wanted to give a shout-out to the post and its comments here on my blog.

Coincidentally, today another member of my Twitter network, @hdiblasi, posted a link to ideas for aligning instructional technology and information technology. I thought the information there complimented the conversation going on at the Socratech Seminars blog.

In the end, if info tech and ed tech are constantly battling in a school/district/organization, then the team has lost sight of the ultimate goal, which is to support teaching and learning. I think the ideas in the resources above can provide guidance that will help organizations who have lost their way refocus and work as a cooperative team for the benefit of their customers - teachers and students.