Week 14: Shadowing a Local EdTech Leader

I recently had the opportunity to shadow a local EdTech leader. Read on to discover what I learned in the process!

A couple months ago I wrote a blog post describing my preparatory research for the shadowing experience I would complete with an EdTech leader in Bloomington's Monroe County Community School Corporation (MCCSC). I was really looking forward to witnessing the work of an actual EdTech leader in the community because I wanted to experience first-hand the challenges and responsibilities that EdTech leaders must consider on a daily basis. While Indiana University's Computer Educator License (CEL) program thoroughly prepares us for technology leadership in schools--indeed, this is the foundation for an entire semester-long course--discussing issues of EdTech leadership in class is markedly different from actually participating in it.

For this experience, I spent a morning at Bloomington High School North shadowing Mr. Shaun Caudill, who is currently a Technology Coordinator and Digital Learning Coach for the school but was formerly a classroom teacher. Because the school corporation had recently implemented a 1:1 technology initiative, providing each student in grades K-12 with a personal learning device, I expected the majority of my time with Mr. Caudill to be spent troubleshooting issues with the technology integration and designing professional development for the devices. However, to my surprise, Mr. Caudill's primary tasks were related not to the devices but rather to a program unique to the Bloomington schools called "Tutorial."

"Tutorial," as Mr. Caudill explained it to me, is a brief, 40-minute "enrichment period" during the school day for which students are assigned to specific teachers to receive remedial help, meet with their extracurricular groups, or participate in quiet study time. For each Tutorial period, teachers must request a minimum number of students to be placed in their classrooms by a certain time; if they fail to do this, their classroom may be "flipped" into a quiet study room. As I quickly discovered, this process of assigning students to certain Tutorial classrooms and "flipping" others into quiet study rooms is what Mr. Caudill spends most of his mornings doing. Because there is currently no easy, automated way of performing this task, he is required to manually assign or move any students who have not been placed in a Tutorial room or who have been placed in an incorrect one (e.g. a student who has been placed in a quiet study room but actually needs to make up an exam). The process is simple and easy to learn, though, so Mr. Caudill taught me the basics and allowed me to help out!

Since our primary responsibility for the morning was to finish planning and assigning the Tutorial groups, I did not have the opportunity to ask Mr. Caudill a lot of questions about the corporation's new 1:1 technology initiative. However, he did explain to me that he was only recently placed in his current role as Technology Coordinator, having previously worked for the school as a classroom teacher. He told me that because he was well-liked among the staff and was comfortable with technology, acting as a leader and mentor for his colleagues throughout the device roll-out and implementation, the administration asked him to step into this new position when it became available. I thought that this was particularly interesting because it truly illustrates the importance of positive, supportive, and authentic relationships between the technology department and other staff members. Even though Mr. Caudill's formal education was in teaching, rather than technology, his technology skills and experience with the school's programs were sufficient enough to make him qualified for this position, particularly because of his well-suited personality. He mentioned to me that some teachers become frustrated when their classrooms are "flipped" into quiet study rooms, which really illustrates why it is imperative that the person performing these duties be able to communicate positively, clearly, and sympathetically with the staff to minimize tension and create supportive working relationships.

Ultimately, the highlight of the experience for me was learning about the recently organized esports club at Bloomington High School North, developed and managed by Mr. Caudill himself! Because the students' Tutorial period occurs in the late morning, I was able to participate in the esports club meeting they held during that time, during which the students discussed the logistics for their upcoming competition and practice schedules for the various teams of players. Before this experience, I had no knowledge of esports or its place in high schools as another extracurricular organization, so it was fascinating for me to learn about it and witness the ways in which it successfully engaged student groups that had previously been underrepresented in extracurricular activities. Integrating esports--competitive online gaming--into schools as an extracurricular function validates the interests of a whole new student population, recognizing their passions as equally important as other sports and student organizations. While watching Mr. Caudill facilitate the students' meeting, I became more and more excited about the possibility of creating an esports club at my own school because I firmly believe that each student should feel valued and represented in their school community.

I wish I had more time to ask Mr. Caudill about the corporation's 1:1 technology initiative, but it was very enlightening to see that his position is largely administrative and does not simply include developing solutions or professional development for the devices. It also showed me that every EdTech position requires different responsibilities, since schools and their technology programs are very individualized and have widely different needs. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Bloomington High School North and would love to shadow Mr. Caudill again, should the opportunity arise!

--Miss Hennings