Director of Educational Technology

Organizational Relationships: Reports to Assistant Head of School, Dean of Innovation and Academics; partners with Director of Information Technologies to support campus-wide consistency and seamless implementation of technology; member of the Head of School Leadership Team; communicates and works with school administrators, faculty, staff, and students; Communicates and works with Information Technology Director and the team; Manages School Technology Group (STG); member of St. Louis Education Council (EC)

Summary: The Director of Educational Technology, will lead Principia’s educational technology program.  Under the supervision of the Assistant Head of School; Dean of Innovation and Academics and in collaboration with the Information Technology Director and senior leadership of the school (Head of School and 4 Principals), the Director of Educational Technology will support the integration of technology, develop a new vision for innovation and design, and oversee IT support and operations in the school.  In addition, this position will be responsible for uniting multiple aspects of the educational technology program, establishing an overall educational technology strategy, and creating a plan to educational technology in delivering a first-class approach to technology integration into the curriculum.

Background: The Director is a creative and dynamic leader charged with developing and implementing a strategic vision in all areas of technology on the school campus. The Director will facilitate the integration of digital tools and best practices into curriculum and administrative systems. Both a big picture and a hands-on implementer, the Director engages with administrators, teachers, home department, parents and students to extend responsible and creative use of technology. The Director must be a strategic thinker with strong communication, organizational and interpersonal skills, and the enthusiasm and credibility to create and sustain instructional momentum in the appropriate use of technology in the school’s curriculum and instruction. The Director oversees the school’s EdTech department, coaches and evaluates EdTech team members to ensure each of them serves as a strong leader and creates an environment of shared knowledge and purpose among the EdTech team. The Director works with faculty, students and other stakeholders to ensure the technology program and services meets educational and communication needs of the school. The Director works closely with the Informational Technology Director to ensure fiscal and infrastructure needs are being met.

Work Performed - Essential Duties:

Leadership and Continuing Professional Development

• Develop and implement a strategic vision for the use of technology at the school: Defines the vision and mission of the EdTech department to ensure all team members are unified towards a common vision through the co-creation of that vision, goal setting and regular SLII meetings to ensure milestones are being reached; works with teachers and administrators to facilitate and enhance the vision and goals of technology integration in the curriculum

• Oversees continuous professional development (CPD) opportunities to meet the diverse learning needs of the faculty as it relates to integrating technology into academic programming; leads/facilitates technology-related professional development opportunities including self-study, workshops, and conferences; knows and can support the implementation of the ISTE standards.

• Eliminate the status quo; maintains knowledge of and communicate current research findings and forecasts related to the effective use of technology in the school’s educational program; provides current, cutting-edge information to support decision-making on academic and administrative technology matters; ensures all teachers have the appropriate technology tools and skills for future ready schooling; champions changes in curriculum design and delivery in conjunction with the administrators.

• Serve as the primary leader for: the school’s 1:1 computing initiative; roll-out strategies for any new EdTech initiatives, communicating with and presenting to faculty, students and parents; conduct training where necessary.

• Supports the Principals and Dean of Students to ensure the network and other technology resources are used safely and responsibly rather than limiting access; communicates “responsible use”, mission and values of EdTech at the school and the connection between ethics and technology to students and parents.

Management

• Coaches, evaluates and leads the EdTech team to enhance their contributions

• Oversees and supports the work in: Robotics, Roll out of the IDEA Ext lab, Maker spaces, Computer Sciences, Coding

• Supervises the maintenance and delivery of effort for St. Louis Campus; all one-to-one, classroom, and dorm technology, exclusive of networking infrastructure (for example cable, switches, wireless access points, centralized servers and storage), the Media Center, and auditorium/theater technology, maintenance of centralized servers for St Louis and storage for Principia, the Help Desk function and hardware support for School faculty, staff and student computers,  STG to provide the initial image and ongoing support for non-one-to-one computers in the classroom and dorm environment

• Manages the use of network resources in conjunction with other IT offices

Procurement and Budgeting

• Participates in budget decisions and manages school technology budgets to effectively allocate and manage resources to support strategic priorities and initiatives, ensure smooth approvals, funding, implementation, and support, develop and monitor annual instructional technology and technology operations budget in cooperation with appropriate stakeholders.

• Services: Explores contracting with other services and provides leadership in the purchase and acquisition of new technology and equipment;       

Necessary Competencies

• Quick learner; very comfortable as a hands-on technologist

• Combination of proven experience in, and skills transferable to the technologies of today's academic technology: Apple IOS (MacBook, iPad),; Windows Desktop and Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc.); Windows Networking desktop management tools such as imaging, group policies, and application packaging; Windows-based media applications such as Sound Recorder, Movie Maker, Audacity, Adobe Premier Elements; Tablet computing such as Microsoft Journal and OneNote; AN and media peripherals such as projectors, still and video cameras, and microphones o Web 2.0; Classroom Management

Key Competencies

Candidates’ overall outlook and approach to life and learning are just as important to us as appropriate qualifications and experience. Principia School seeks individuals who are . . . 

• Positive: We appreciate team members who are optimistic, positive, and focused on elevating and bringing out the very best in themselves and others. We are a strengths-based organization; faculty and staff are expected to understand teammates’ strengths and how they can complement each other.

• Team players: The ability to collaborate and partner with peers and senior administrators is critical. The School has a strong team-centered leadership approach. Staff are expected to be able to listen, give and receive feedback, and be comfortable exchanging ideas and speaking candidly in a professional and collegial manner. They must bring a constructive outlook to partnering with a wide range of stakeholders—administrators, faculty, coaches, houseparents, marketers, and fundraisers, among others.

• Innovators: Given our fast-moving, ever-changing world, all School employees are expected to demonstrate a problem-solving mindset that helps our team come up with creative solutions to challenging issues. The School emphasizes continual improvement and expects staff to have a mentality of self-improvement and organizational excellence.

• Strategic thinkers: We prize the ability to consider complex topics from multiple perspectives and offer innovative solutions.

To perform this job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:

• Collaborates regularly and communicates effectively with colleagues; able to work independently and effectively organize and prioritize work

• Communicates clearly through both speaking and writing

Mission

The Principia shall seek to serve the Cause of Christian Science through appropriate channels open to it as an educational institution (Policy 1).

Vision

Principia is a Christian Science community of practice. Through transformative opportunities, a challenging curriculum, and character education based on the teachings of Christian Science, we examine, test, and strengthen our faith while developing the skills and understanding requisite for excellence. As global, outward-looking, inspired learners, we serve and better the world.

Values

Principia’s values, listed below, are grounded in the teachings of Christian Science:

Teaching and learning

• Thinking and acting from the basis of Principle, Love

• Unfoldment of character

• Individual and collective excellence

• Citizenship and service

• Innovation and continuous improvement

Minimum Qualifications:

• Proven ability to integrate technology into a classroom setting

• Proven record of accomplishment in technology planning and technology personnel management.

• Proven project management experience

• Experience in preparing and managing budgets

• Proven abilities to supervise, coach and mentor employees to a high performance

• Broad knowledge of industry standards and best practice (e.g. ISTE standards, NAIS Principles of Good Practice on Technology)

• To be an EdTech evangelist!

• Bachelor's degree

• Experience as an educator strongly preferred

• Lives within 30 minutes of the St. Louis campus

This description includes most but not necessarily all, of the activities and responsibilities currently assigned to this position.