Role Assumed by ICT Educators in Practice...

Epsom Girls Grammar recruited a Director for school's E-Learning. Having attended a briefing by the incumbent, I started wondering her actual role. In fact it occurs to me that every teacher needs to assume the responsibilities that this school is trying to fossilize in this new role.

Until now, the regular use of ICT in education in Secondary Schools appears to be low, despite the availability of technology relatively cheaply  (Strudler, Falba, & Hearrington, 2005; Tondeur, Van Keer, van Braak, & Valcke, 2008). In this regard, research indicates that there is a gap between the educational change required by means of ICT implementation and the actual use of ICT in schools (Tondeur, van Braak, & Valcke, 2007). To realise the potential of ICT, schools need to realise the complexity of its implementation especially in way of innovation and change (Lai, Trewern, & Pratt, 2002; Tearle, 2004). Also, as Strudler, Falba, and Hearrington (2001) emphasise, educational change with ICT is in continuous progress and demands ongoing coordination and support.

This means that schools need ICT teachers who can guide and support the school in implementing ICT into education (Watson, 2006). School technicians cannot fulfil this role nor does a director. Obviously the responsibility is assigned to the ICT educators (e.g., Lai et al., 2002; Strudler, 1994). The ICT educators, therefore, play an important role in the integration and management of ICT in schools (Lai et al., 2002; Marcovitz, 2000).

Over the last few decades, the role of the ICT educator has changed considerably. In the nineteen-eighties they mainly dealt with practical problems associated with the installation and use of computers (Moursund, 1992). Nowadays, besides this role, the ICT educator is assumed to take on many different responsibilities which Moursund (1992) divides into two categories: planning and implementation. Planning includes tasks such as facilitating changes in the curriculum and making sure that there are means available to implement the curriculum. Implementation means that the ICT educator facilitates innovation: they maintain the hardware and the software; offers training to the teachers, administrative staff and parents; develops curricula; and provides technical support (Moursund, 1992). Additionally, they define the ICT educator as a change agent, someone who facilitates the change in ICT use at schools.