Responsibilities of the Edutech Geek

If you can edit the header.php file in a wordpress template, hunt down the path of an image in html, keep track of hundreds of logins for students and staff, know the difference between between gadgets, widgets, and apps, and are the first one to discover great new web-based tools for the classroom, you are an Edutech Geek.

"With great power comes great responsibility." --Uncle Ben Parker 

As Edutech Geeks, we have the responsibility to train, share, and inspire those who are not tech geeks. Many teachers are overwhelmed with technology. Some appear to be allergic to it. Our challenge is to find a way to make the complex simple; to automate the arduous task; to empower staff and students with technology, not to overwhelm them with it. Our goal is not to turn everyone around us into Edutech Geeks.

Today I led my monthly "Tuesday Tech Training" session at Southfield Christian School where I teach. It was an open lab session and teachers wandered in to get help with various issues.

I helped a teacher set up automated comment moderation on her blog.

I solved an "unsolvable" issue related to latin placeholder text in a Wordpress template that no one could find.

I talked with a veteran teacher who is thinking about writing a book about the benefits of blogging.
I shared with great excitement the wonders of Google Body Browser.
Today, at least, I have fulfilled my duty as an Edutech Geek. Tomorrow, I'll try again...