Narrative of Interviews

Courtney Taylor

FRIT 7739 Practicum in Instructional Technology

Dr. Elizabeth Downs

Georgia Southern University

Fall 2022
Introduction

All three interviews were conducted with Instructional Technology Specialists. The first

interview was with Rachel Bray, who works for Dalton Public Schools as a district Instructional

Technology Specialist. The second interview was with Julia Cagle, the Instructional Technology

Specialist for Dalton Junior High and The Dalton Academy. The third and final interview was

with Janet Hewitt, a Instructional Technology Specialist for Dalton Public Schools.

Comparing and Contrasting

The interviews were very similar in nature, and they all had similar answers to the

questions considering they work for the same district. Rachel and Janet work together and hold

the same job title. Their roles are the same other than the fact that they support different schools.

As they stated, each school operates differently according to instructional technology, as some

schools do not have what others do. This is something they are working on as for equity within

the district, however since most media specialists are in control of their own budget, technology

does sometimes differ at each site.

Julia’s role is different in that she is an Instructional Technology Specialist for a specific

school, two in fact. She is in a unique situation where a junior high and high school are sharing a

media center, and, therefore, sharing herself and her resources. She reflected on the pros and

cons of that specific setup, stating that she has to be very organized and work well with her

teammate, who is another media specialist. They coordinate their schedules to ensure they are

supporting everyone in both of the buildings.

The job responsibilities of all three specialists are very similar. They agreed that the bulk

of what they do day in and day out is troubleshooting. They check their emails and phones

regularly to ensure they stay on top of needs within their building/ district. They also all enjoyed
helping teachers feel confident in their abilities to utilize technology effectively. As for budget,

the district specialists do not have one that they control, but they do work closely with the

technology specialist for our district and they get to order things that are innovative. Julia has a

budget that she controls with the other media specialist, and they are very appreciative of their

office staff for working with them on purchasing things because their split between two schools,

and essentially running two budgets through one media center.

Overall, the three specialists all had a common goal and that was to support teachers and

students within the district to implement technology to increase student engagement and

achievement. They were all very passionate about what they do, and seem very successful.