Jessica Horton

FRIT 7739

Dr. Hodges

January 29, 2020

Site Supervisor Interview

On January 22, I interviewed Amy Perry, who is my site supervisor for FRIT

7739. Amy is an Instructional Technologist who works in the Office of College and

Career Readiness/Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education division of the

Savannah Chatham County Public School System. Her job title is CTAE

Supervisor/Choice Program Admissions Coordinator. Amy reports that for her position,

you must have a degree in a CTAE field, and a master’s in a field such as instructional

technology. Although she completed her undergraduate degree at Valdosta State

University, Amy graduated with a Master of Education in Instructional Technology from

Georgia Southern University. Amy’s job responsibilities include supporting all district

CTAE teachers by addressing their technology needs, supervising the online choice

program application process, and coordinating district events. The typical day for Amy

varies depending on the time of year. However, a typical day in January begins with a

conference call with the lead information specialist and the software vendor who

handles the choice program admissions lottery. Then, she conducts at least one site

visit at one of our 58 schools to check in with CTAE teachers to evaluate their

technology needs, observe how they are integrating technology into their lessons, and

train them on new software. In the afternoon, she often spends time planning district
level technology workshops and training opportunities. On some days, she spends the

whole day or at least a half day delivering training that she has designed. Of course,

she spends time each day responding to emails and phone calls.

Amy does have a budget that she has input into, but is not ultimately in control of.

The main ways that she determines the resources her stakeholders need are surveys

and needs assessments that are sent out to the teachers she supports and

observations. She also relies on usage reports from our technology vendors and

software companies to determine the frequency of use of some of our software

programs. These reports help her decide if the usage is worth the amount we pay for

certain technology.

Amy and I discussed a recent example of an opportunity she had to impact

technology implementation throughout our district. Many teachers expressed an

interest in having access to Adobe Creative Cloud. Amy sent out a survey to all CTAE

teachers to find out if we had access to Adobe Creative Cloud, and if not, if it would be

something we would find useful in our classes. She asked how many licenses we

would need for students to use as well. Based on the results of her survey, she was

able to obtain ACC licenses for all CTAE teachers in the district, and thousands of

licenses for students district wide. Access to this software is opening up new

possibilities for teachers and students throughout our system, and will make a

tremendous impact.

The OCCR/CTAE technology committee consists of the Director of CTAE for the

district, Amy Perry, and two other CTAE Supervisors. Technology decisions are made
by determining which programs and school sites have the oldest technology that is in

need of repair, as well as which sites have new programs and initiatives that need to be

supported. Our district has a five year technology replacement schedule, meaning that

once every five years, each CTAE classroom receives new technology. The schedule

determines many of the technology decisions.

Amy shared that the best part of her job is knowing that when she assists

teachers in selecting and learning new technology, she is reaching thousands of

students who will benefit from her knowledge. She also appreciates the connections

she gets to make with the educators she serves. The main challenge that Amy reports

facing is having enough time to implement all of the ideas she has for our district.