Narrative of Interviews

Chelsea George

Georgia Southern University

FRIT 7739: Practicum in Instructional Technology

Dr. Hodges

Fall 2023
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I have chosen to complete my site experience within Rockdale County Public Schools in

Conyers, Georgia. Rockdale prides itself on being ahead of most neighboring districts with its

technological initiatives and integration within the classroom. Having taught within the district

for three years, I can speak highly to the dedication of the board and school administrations to

ensure that teachers and students are well equipped with the resources needed to develop a

world-class education. While I have a fair understanding of what it is like to receive support from

a technology expert, I have thoroughly enjoyed gaining a new understanding of how one person

might support the whole school. In Rockdale, the technology experts within schools are called

digital learning specialists, or DLS. Prior to the budget cuts for this academic year, two DLS’s

would serve the same two schools for the duration of the year. For this semester-long experience,

I spent a few days at both middle and high school levels and focused most of my time on

shadowing my elementary site supervisor.

My first placement was at Rockdale County High School with Mr. Dyer. He also spends

his time supporting Rockdale County Magnet High School and Salem High School. In this

interview, Mr. Dyer explained to me that each student is provided with a Chromebook and

accessories to go along with the device. Students are given their own unique emails and

passwords to ensure security at all levels. Mr. Dyer is also responsible for ensuring that software

programs are up to date and working effectively. In terms of jobs responsibilities, Mr. Dyer acts

most like a diplomat, liaison, but most of all instructional coach. During the first part of the

school year there various tasks that require a DLS to complete a lot of work behind the scenes.

For example, this would include taking inventory of the technology in each classroom, reimaging

all devices, creating accounts, etc. These tasks, in addition to completing tickets on the helpdesk,

may continue throughout the year. However, after the majority of these tasks are completed, Mr.
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Dyer enjoys meeting with grade levels during planning time to assist in technology integration

within lesson plans. Additional job responsibilities include providing school-wide trainings,

meeting individually with teachers, or even pushing into classrooms to model how to use

technology for and with students. Each day looks different depending on the needs of teachers

and students. There is no technology committee or anything of the sort that Mr. Dyer is aware of.

My second interview was with Mr. Burnfin, who supports Edwards Middle School and

Conyers Middle School. Mr. Burnfin found that even though he supports two schools, some of

the teachers at his second placement were sufficient technology leaders that supported their

departments, so he was able to focus on supporting one school more consistently to fit their

specific needs. His responsibilities mirrored that of Mr. Dyer and also included that its is the

DLS’s responsibility to conduct technology observations for teachers. These observations are

informal and are anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes. The objective of these interviews is to help

the DLS better understand the teacher’s ability and level of comfort with technology to better

support instruction. Mr. Burnfin also shared that he likes to walk around the school when his

schedule is free to informally talk to teachers and see how things are going or how he may

support. He also completes tickets from the helpdesk in his free time. There are no technology

committees at the middle schools that Mr. Burnfin supports although, he does confide in teachers

within different departments to help lead their teams.

My last interview was with Ms. Price, an elementary DLS that has been working in this

position at CJ Hicks Elementary for almost 30 years. Ms. Price shared with me that she

pioneered the DLS program in Rockdale and has enjoyed seeing it evolve over the years. Since

Ms. Price supports younger learners, her job responsibilities are a bit different from Mr. Dyer and

Mr. Burnfin. In addition to Chromebooks, Ms. Price handles iPads and accessories for learners in
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PreK through second grade. Also, as Ms. Price is the only site supervisor to have a technology

committee, she is able to collaborate with other professionals and stakeholders in their school to

ensure that the overall vision for student success is being met. Ms. Price likes to meet with

teachers to show them new and engaging programs for students to use independently like

Nearpod, Quizziz, and more. Similar to my other two site supervisors, Ms. Price’s schedule

almost builds itself as teachers may ask for individual meetings to learn more about a program,

small group support, or modeling a whole group lesson. Because Ms. Price is so hands on in the

school, she does take work home each day. During this time she feels as though there are less

distractions and she can get a good amount of work completed. This includes working on

helpdesk tickets, creating presentations or trainings, and reviewing lesson plans.

Overall, I’ve seen that the foundation of the digital learning specialist position is

generally the same in each setting. Each of my site supervisors supports eat least two schools to

ensure that technology is being used to enhance education and challenge students to think

creatively and innovatively. Much of the job is troubleshooting problems virtually or in person.

Acting as another academic coach, DLS’s are able to provide focused support on technology

without intensive evaluations. Meeting teachers where they are is a great way to build

relationships and document their growth throughout the academic year. The lack of technology

committee at each school level is not an inherent weakness, but is certainly something that

should be considered to encourage community participation in technology literacy and ability.

I’ve gained much valuable information and insight from each of my site supervisors.

Under their guidance, I’ve seen the importance of flexibility and willingness to try creative

strategies to help fill in learning gaps for teachers. Moving forward, I’d like to following in their
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footsteps by working more with teachers to help them create opportunities for students to

function more independently and act as technology leaders.