My Quest for an Ed Tech Job and What it Says about Education

     I am a tech nerd. I love education technology, and I have come to the point where I need to move into it professionally. I have been doing education technology basically as a hobby, so moving into it professionally will give me more time and resources to really put towards my passion. You would think with all of the presentations I have given, this site, and the other stuff that I have in the works, that finding an education technology job would be easy. It's not. I live in metro Atlanta, and there are only a few positions within the ed tech community. Of course, all of this comes down to the major budget gaps that districts are experiencing.

      I think if you happen to be reading this blog you are an ed tech believer. It is such an important part of education, and it is one of the first areas that districts cut. Many of the districts in metro Atlanta have only a few instructional technology specialist, and some don't have any. Without these technology experts, how are schools going to support the transition into the 21st century? Why are these positions some of the first to be cut? I think it all comes down to schools concentrate on the problems of the past, and they don't focus on the future. High stakes testing has meant schools spend truckloads of money on remediation, and then they end up cutting positions like technology specialist that can prepare students for the future.

     There has to be a better way, and I don't really know what it is in todays climate. It might mean schools and politicians finally have to figure out that high stakes testing is draining our school budgets. It might mean we have to dramatically raise the education and teaching level in the lower grades so we don't have to do so much remediation. It might mean we have to have new ways of funding. Whatever it may be, education technology is to important to be the first thing that schools cut. How do we get that through the school board members heads? If you can figure that out, you should be running the US Department of Education.