I am the Help Desk

I was on a roll there for a while, meaning I got all the way to page 85 without stopping to write a post. And then page 85 happened.  

For 10 years I have been an Instructional Technology Specialist. INSTRUCTIONAL. A word I kept emphasising over and over to my campuses. I think every tech coach has this battle with curriculum vs. wires and pliers. You arrive on a campus with a specific agenda in mind and then you get hit with a multitude of technical issues. Next thing you know, 80% of your day has been spent unplugging and plugging SMARTboards, fixing Outlook issues and trying to figure out why an iPad is no longer connecting to the network. “What Did the Help Desk Say?” was actually our mantra one year. 

Empathy is a word you hear over and over again in The Innovator’s Mindset. I have to remember that technology is my specialty. It’s what I do every single day. Troubleshooting to me is very easy because that’s what my day is filled with. Teachers, on the other hand, juggle 10 things at one time. They don’t have the luxury of perfecting the art of troubleshooting like I do.  Once I read page 85 (and highlighted every sentence) a lightbulb went off in my head. Where has my empathy been?

” The educators we serve need the tools and resources to work if we truly want to create a culture of innovation. They also need to feel our support in creating an environment that we would truly want to be in as learners ourselves.” ~ George Couros

You’ll notice there is a new page in the main navigation menu on this blog. Tech Tips will be a new section dedicated to empowering teachers with the basic skills needed to navigate these treacherous technology waters in which we expect them to swim. I will provide quick tutorials and fixes for specific issues I observe in the classroom environment on a daily basis. My new mantra?

I am the help desk. 

One thought on “I am the Help Desk

  1. I can totally empathize! 🙂 Thanks for all your entries… Make me feel I am no alone 😉
    Have a great school year!

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