When I think of my impressions of my future role as a technology leader, the first word

that comes to mind is “diverse”. As Mr. Betz mentioned throughout his interview, he must tackle

a wide range of topics and issues. To be a successful technology leader, it is necessary to possess

a knowledge base that encompasses a variety of disciplines. Or, you are going to have to be self-

reflective enough to understand the areas you are strong in and can handle and be able to identify

and hire people on your team that will be able to manage the areas in which you are weak.

Second, as a technology leader, it will be imperative to have incredibly strong communication

and people skills. You will need to manage your own team as well as be able to be the contact

point for others in your district. Because of the complexity and number of people you will

communicate with, it will be very easy for miscommunication to derail ongoing projects that

ultimately lead to more problems. By having strong communication and people skills, you can

clearly articulate to all stakeholders the plan, individual responsibilities within that plan, and

manage developments as the process evolves. Finally, the last word that comes to mind is

“passion”. To be a future technology leader, you will need to love what you do because it will

not be for the faint of heart! This will not be a 9-5 job. I did not have to listen to Mr. Betz long to

realize he is an extremely busy man. To accommodate all the different items on his agenda, he is

at work very early in the morning and most days stays very late at night, but he does it because

he has a passion for what he does. He has a passion to make sure that the staff and students in the

Bryan County School System have what they need to be successful each day. And when you are

passionate about what you do, everything tends to become more natural, and you do not find

yourself counting the hours. You are invested in the success of your team and system!

I think there are a couple areas I can focus on to better prepare myself for a future role as

a technology leader. First, as already discussed, I can improve on my communication and people
skills. My current job as a Media Specialist allows me opportunities to practice my

communication skills with a very large faculty. I can certainly work on how I phrase instructions

or provide teachers more details about ongoing school technology projects. I can also work on

my communication skills when things do not go well. Often, in roles such as this, you are going

to have to be able to tell people “No”, whether it is to something they want to do or simply to

keep from adding another thing to your plate. I already know that I am not good at telling people

no! It makes me uncomfortable, but I must get better if I really want to be a leader. Leaders must

do what is best for their groups and that can include communicating effectively even amid

having difficult conversations. Second, I can find ways to expand my knowledge in technical

areas in which I am weak. For example, Mr. Betz has a background in networking. Because of

this expertise, he can discuss technical intricacies with his team when they are evaluating a

networking situation at a particular building or when dealing with vendors that work on the

overall county network. I have no networking knowledge or experience! So, one thing I could do

to better prepare myself is to find ways to expand and grow my knowledge of networks. It would

take time outside of my Ed.S. coursework but in the long term I think it could really be beneficial

if I could show a future employer that I have at least a basic understanding of networks and

network structures. Finally, I need to continue to use my current role as a Media Specialist

(which in my role is a more hybrid situation that works very closely with the technology

department) to continue to gain experience in the day-to-day, year-to-year tasks of technology

planning, evaluation, and implementation. What better way to learn is there than being in the

moment every day? By continuing to gain valuable experience now, I can keep growing my

foundational tools, resources, and experiences to help me in the future. When I look at how much
I have learned in the last 18 months, I really am amazed! I need to continue to build and expand

my current experiences!

As far as my Ed.S. degree, I need to focus more on evaluating how each specific course

can help me continue to expand my knowledge and give me experiences to make me a better all-

around candidate for a future technology leadership position. From pedagogy to online

instruction to evaluating research and its impact on our field, this Ed.S. program has courses that

can help me in every facet of my development. Mr. Betz did a great job laying out a “big

picture” scenario for me of what his job entails. I feel like it is now my responsibility to make

sure that in every course taken I make sure to obtain knowledge in the proper areas to help me

achieve my future goals.

There were several issues that caught my attention during my interview with Mr. Betz.

First, as already mentioned previously, he is responsible for a wide variety of issues within the

technology department. I noticed that most all these issues were very much on the technical side

of things. He did not mention about being involved in a lot of work regarding curriculum and

instruction. I found this interesting because most jobs such as his want candidates with degrees in

Instructional Technology. However, it has been my experience in my Masters and Specialist

Instructional Technology programs that we focus very heavily on technology and instruction. We

do not study the technical side. So, that means we must find and gain that technical side of things

through other means. What we study in our programs sounds a lot more like what people do in

the Teaching & Learning department of Bryan County Schools. It is certainly possible that this is

just how Bryan County Schools has structured themselves. It does not mean this is the same

structure found across the state. I just found it to be something interesting to note as I prepared

and worked on this assignment. Second, I found it worth noting how Mr. Betz answered my
questions about how the job has changed over the years and how the COVID-19 pandemic has

impacted his job. It is a great example of how technology leaders must be prepared for anything

to come their way and must be able to adapt to current situations. Finally, I personally

appreciated Mr. Betz’s honesty when he answered my questions about what he enjoyed the most

and least about his job. Specifically, I think his answer to the least liked part about his job is

important for people to hear. In a job such as this, you are not always going to be able to give

everyone the time and the answers they want to things. And it is very important to set your own

boundaries for success and not let others make you feel like you are not doing your job well just

because you had to tell them an answer they did not want to hear. I think we had a great

exchange about setting the bar for yourself and not letting others drag you down when you know

you have reached that level!

I would really like to thank Mr. Betz for his time and answering my questions! He is an

extremely busy man and I really felt like he put a lot of thought into his answers for me!

Considering this assignment is getting us to think about our future roles as technology leaders,

Mr. Betz certainly gave some incredible advice and insight into what that looks like!