Interview of Site Supervisor

Technology Center: Willie J Williams Middle School

1. Name of technology coordinator being interviewed.

○ Cindy Walsh
2. What is your title?
○ I am an Instructional Technology Specialist for Colquitt County Schools. I am
primarily housed at Williams Middle School but I. also serve Okapilco
Elementary school

3. What type of degree is required for your position?

○ You must be a certified Georgia educator in any K-12 field. A degree in
instructional technology is very beneficial and highly recommended but not
required.

4. What are your job responsibilities?

○ My job responsibilities include providing guidance and support in promoting
the use of technology in student learning. I help the teachers with integrating
technology into their classroom instruction that supports the Georgia
Standards of Excellence and that promotes student engagement and
increased student achievement.
○ I am also responsible for designing and leading any professional learning that
is relevant and hands-on for the schools I serve in addition to training and
supporting the teachers on any county purchased software or district initiative.
○ Another responsibility I am tasked with is helping the media specialists from
all schools in our county gather the technology equipment inventory from their
school site, then I upload each one to the State Department of Education at
the end of each school year.
○ My department is also tasked with the duty of assuring that each school site
teaches the appropriate digital citizenship requirements.
○ I also assist the school contact with maintaining and updating their school
website.
○ I primarily serve Williams Middle School, but due to a Digital Learning Grant
awarded to Okapilco Elementary school, I am required to serve them for
designated hours according to the grant specifications.
○ and other duties as assigned.
5. How are you meeting the needs of faculty and staff during the transition to
remote learning this semester?
○ I have assisted the faculty and staff during this remote learning period with
training on the use of Google Classroom to house their digital content and
Google Meet to talk and interact with their remote students through the web.
○ I have also worked with them on converting paper content to digital format
that can be placed in Google Classroom for student work.
○ I also support them by troubleshooting issues with the use of technology
software and equipment that they use in their daily instruction such as
chromebooks, Smartboards, document cameras, webcams, etc.

6. How are you meeting the remote learning needs of students and parents?
○ We are meeting the remote learning needs of students and parents by
providing chromebooks for students to take home as needed and as they are
available.
○ We also answer any questions for parents and students as needed to assist
them with online learning. All this together allows the students to access their
teacher’s instructional materials digitally from home for remote learning.

7. What are typical daily activities for your job?

○ A typical day includes:
i. assisting a teacher(s) who needs a particular digital resource on the fly
for their lessons
ii. assisting a teacher with the technology they need for the day’s
instruction because it isn’t working properly or they don’t remember how
to do something
iii. answering any technology related questions that may arise from
teachers, students, and parents.
iv. Training or assisting any new teacher or para that may have taken over
for the teacher of record, whether the teacher is out sick, out on
quarantine, or has left the position.
v. Other duties as assigned

8. Do you have a budget that you control? How do you make decisions on selecting
resources for your stakeholders?
○ I do not have a budget that I control, but I am routinely asked to help research
appropriate resources that will fit the needs of the school or teachers that I
serve.
9. Have you had an opportunity to impact technology implementation throughout
your school? Would you describe a specific example?
○ I have had an opportunity to impact technology implementation at my school
by providing the training necessary to get our teachers onboard with using the
G Suite for Education productivity tools. These tools include Google Docs,
Sheets, Slides, Forms and especially Classroom. Training the teachers on
these tools gave them the necessary skills needed to provide online
instruction for their students using the free Google tools.
○ Also, I was involved in the chromebook roll-out implementation at the middle
school as well as at Okapilco elementary at the beginning of the remote
learning period.

10. Does your school have a technology committee?

○ No, my school does not have a technology committee, but there is one at the
county level.

11. How are technology decisions made?

○ Large technology decisions are made at the district technology office, usually
a collaborative decision between the Technology Director and the Network
Administrator and their departments as needed. Small technology purchases
are made locally at the school by the principal.

12. What is the best part of your job?

○ The best part of my job is knowing that I helped my fellow teachers when they
are in need. Whether I helped them use technology to enhance their lessons
or I just answered a simple question, they are always very appreciative, and it
is a good feeling knowing I am able to help them in any way I can.

13. What do you find to be the most challenging part of your job?
○ The most challenging part of my job is trying to give help to all who need it at
any given time and not having all the answers. Sometimes there just isn’t
enough time in the day to help all the teachers who seem to need help all at
the same moment, and it is also frustrating when I don’t have all the answers
to help them with whatever they may need.