The ABCs of School District IT

  By Agatha Gilmore —

“If we’re going to maximize these folks and if we’re really going to move into 21st-century skills for staff and for teachers and for students, we’ve got to change this,” White said. “So instead of just having a person who’s in a niche doing technology and saying, ‘Oh, this is my district technology leader,’ we need to have someone who is a district leader who specializes in technology.”

To that end, White said the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) is working to boost awareness and develop a certification process for school district IT leaders.

Further, aspiring professionals in this area might find that opportunities are even more prevalent in certain geographical locations. Those areas known for their high-tech presence — the Silicon Valleys of the nation — likely expect a lot from their school districts with regard to technology, White said.

“When your community knows more about technology than you do, you’re at a disadvantage. But they can be a wonderful partner,” she said. “I thought it would be interesting to look at areas where you have these enclaves of technology and see if that makes a big difference.”

She added that larger districts tend to recognize the need for a district-level technology leader more rapidly than smaller ones, but this may have to do with the money and space available.

Ultimately, the future is bright for those willing to apply their tech knowledge and leadership skills in the education arena.

“There are a lot of economies and a lot of advantages to putting those two sides of the shop together,” White said. “That’s what you get when you get a decision maker in that role.” 

– Agatha Gilmore, agilmore@certmag.com