Narrative of Interviews

Jadyn Campbell

FRIT 7739: Practicum in Instructional Technology

Georgia Southern University

Dr. Downs

Spring 2023
 For this assignment, I interviewed media specialists at three different schools in the

Columbia County School District. I interviewed two middle school media specialists and a high

school media specialist. One of the middle school media specialist also helps at the feeder

elementary school. Although these three media specialists are in the same school district, they do

have different roles at their schools. The middle school media specialists seem to help more with

implementing technology and providing instructional technology resources to classroom teachers

than the high school media specialist. It was very interesting to see how the roles of each media

specialist were alike and different across the same school district.

The first interview I conducted was with Mrs. Jennifer Barefoot at Grovetown

Elementary School. Mrs. Barefoot also helps at the Cedar Ridge Elementary media center

because they do not currently have a media specialist. Mrs. Barefoot served as my field

supervisor this year because she helps at my school and the demographics of her school are very

similar to my school. Mrs. Barefoot originally started in the education field as a classroom

teacher. She taught middle grades before transferring to the media specialist role. As a former

classroom teacher, Mrs. Barefoot is able to provide classroom management in the media center

and relate to the teachers. She understands the demands of the classroom, especially digital

learning, and provides training to teachers when necessary. She supports teachers by having an

open form of communication, providing technology tools to use in the classroom, and teaching

lessons in the media center that use technology that can also be implemented in the classroom.

She works with the administration, technology support specialist, and digital learning team to

make decisions about technology purchases and prepare teachers for digital learning days. Mrs.

Barefoot is an instructional technology leader in her school. Along with instructional technology
needs, Mrs. Barefoot is in charge of all media needs. She weeds through books, provides

resources to students, and conducts student check out of books.

The second interview I conducted was with Mrs. Caitlin Seabolt, the media specialist at

Columbia Middle School. Mrs. Seabolt has her specialist in Instructional Technology from

Georgia Southern and is currently working on a school library media certification. Mrs. Seabolt

recently became a middle school media specialist. Before becoming a media specialist, she was a

middle school science teacher. This background experience has helped Mrs. Seabolt become an

instructional technology leader in her school. She invites teachers to the learning commons to

use one to one technology and co-teaches lessons. Mrs. Seabolt has many different roles. She

helps lead professional development, prepares teachers for digital learning days, and serves on

many committees. She also works to keep the school website updated. On top of instructional

technology duties, she takes care of all media duties. She orders technology for the school, new

books, and new software programs. She works with the digital learning team and her

administrator to decide what to purchase with her budget. When I observed Mrs. Seabolt, I could

tell that she is a real asset to her school. She builds relationships with staff and students at her

school.

The third interview I conducted was with Mrs. Jimi Waters, the media specialist at

Harlem High School. Mrs. Waters earned her school library media certification after teaching

high school Spanish for many years. Mrs. Waters works at a school that has a part time

instructional technology specialist. Mrs. Waters dedicates most of her time to media duties. She

weeds through the resources in the learning commons, provides resources for all offered courses,

and maintains the learning commons. She also has a class of students called peer facilitators. She

assigns peer facilitators to different departments in the school. For example, one student is
assigned to the science department. This student works to make copies and complete clerical

work. Mrs. Waters creates assignments for these students and meets with the students each

morning. Mrs. Waters works with teachers to make sure that all necessary resources are provided

for the different courses students can take at the high school level. She also provides students and

teachers with technology resources needed for digital learning days. Mrs. Waters works hard to

make sure that the needs of all teachers and students are met at her school.

One thing I noticed that all of these media specialists do is weed through old resources.

This is very important in the learning commons. Media specialists need to keep updated

resources readily available for students and teachers. The next thing that all of these media

specialists have in common is a background in teaching. This helps the media specialists connect

to the teachers and understand the demands of the classroom. They can provide teachers with

technology resources that can realistically be used in the classroom. I think it is very beneficial

that these professionals were classroom teachers before moving into the media specialist role.

They are familiar with the curriculum and current teaching strategies. All of these media

specialists showed an interest in helping teachers and students with technology integration at

their schools. Lastly, all of the media specialists are in charge of a budget. They all work with

their digital learning teams and administrators to decide what resources should be purchased with

the budget.

Although all of these media specialists work in the same district, there were some

differences that I noticed. First, the middle school media specialists are much more involved in

the instructional technology integration process than the high school media specialist. I believe

this is because the high schools in the district have an instructional technology specialist. This

person is dedicated to implementing technology into the classroom. Therefore, the media
specialist focuses more on technology purchases, providing technology to students and teachers,

and conducting school library media duties. She does not have as many classes visiting the

learning commons as the middle schools because she does not do as much co-teaching and her

school has one to one technology. Overall, these media specialists all have the same titles but

conduct different day to day activities based on the needs of their school.

In conclusion, all media specialists in this district have the same official title and are

expected to conduct some form of technology integration and provide for the students and staff

of their school. This assignment allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of the role of media

specialists in my district and how they connect with instructional technology integration. Each

media specialist that I interviewed showed a passion for teaching and integrating engaging

technology into learning at their schools. I was very fortunate to be able to interview

professionals from multiple schools and across multiple grade levels. I hope to take what I learn

from these interviews and apply it to my teaching career and hopefully in the future as a media

specialist.