but you're the Director of Technology

I am the Director of Technology for a suburban school district in Westchester County NY.   I meet with school administrators and teachers all day long discussing innovative uses of technology for their classrooms and schools.  There are 2 questions I get all the time.  Here they are with my answers:

1.  How do I do "x, y, or z"...?

I get this one all the time.  I get the question on how to use a form of technology by everyone I talk to.  As a former teacher, I have quickly learned that if I supply the answers to all the questions, I am doing them all a disservice.  I often point my colleagues in the right direction, maybe to Youtube or to Google to do some research.  I also very often just tell them, "I don't know."  "But you're the Director of Technology?", they exclaim!  Yes I am.  

2.  You're the Director of Technology and you are using paper and pen to take notes?

I often take notes at meetings with a small notebook.  While I do have a laptop, as well as a tablet, which I use all the time, I like to take notes in my notebook.  In the 8 years I have been in my current district, I have accumulated 18 notebooks.  They are numbered and dated so I can use my calendar of appointments to look for any notes from any meeting I attended.  While I could use Google Docs, take notes and share them, I find that writing helps me process what I am listening to and hearing.  This is more of a personal preference than a statement on the use of Technology.  For example, I also don't like to read books on my iPad.  I prefer the actual book.  Again, no statement here on the use of technology, I just have a preference.  

I will add a caveat to this response.  I don't use technology for certain parts of my job and certain aspects of my life, but I certainly know which tools I could use, and how to use them.  My choice to not use technology is a conscious one.  This is an important skill to have and to teach others...when to use technology, which technology to use, how to know when and which, and why.

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