Our+Featured+IT+Professional

Tiffany M. is our featured IT professional. She is a Technology Support Specialist and an Instructional Technology Specialist who works as one of the trainers for our school system. Half of her time is spent dealing with hardware issues and the other half of her time is spent training faculty and staff at each school in the district with her partner, Instructional Technology Coordinator Lisa P.

Tiffany sat down to answer my questions that ranged from prototypes to legal issues she faces. There was a great deal to discuss regarding her job and she was able to answer each question very pointedly. And when asked about the down side of her job she remained candid. She answered seven questions, and these seven are consolidated into the following topics:

**Prototypes** – Tiffany does not use true prototypes. However, some of the software they implement has an experimental location (file) where teachers and administrators can make mistakes without harming any permanent data. **Legal Issues** – Tiffany has not faced any legal issues but is aware of the sensitive nature of digital records she houses and maintains. Infinite Campus is one that stores all student data and grade books. She has access to all personal information on all students in the school system. She has to remain aware of these at all times. She also mentioned legal issues with training adults. Her comment about this was to always conduct yourself professionally and to use common sense. You come in contact with many personalities when training professionals and can get yourself in trouble with what you say and how you act if you are not careful. **Learning Curve** – I asked Tiffany if she works with trainers or liaisons from software and technology companies when implementing new software. I wondered if she was trained before she trains. She said that she usually learns the software herself because it is more cost efficient to do that. She and her partner Lisa learn the software, create tutorials for the different ability levels, then deploy the information to employees. **Training setting** – A typical training setting for Tiffany is a relatively small group setting of about 8-10 teachers and personnel at a time. She and Lisa group everyone by ability to enhance training and to maximize learning. She can spend up to 1 week at one school doing training sessions all day. The schools have seen the value of this through how teachers are able to be effective in their classrooms with new technology. Because the outcome is so positive, schools are willing to pay substitute teachers so that teachers can attend training during the day. She and Lisa create step by step handouts with pictures and written steps that teachers can take with them to refer back to.

This interview was extremely beneficial for a student like myself who will be entering the field of Instructional Technology in the future. For the sake of time I limited my questions, but could have continued. I did learn that as much as one can love this field, there are always drawbacks, like in every other field of practice. Tiffany presented her job from a realistic view and with objective honesty.