A weekly chat tackling the issue of educational technology from both sides. Ben Rimes, a former teacher turned educational technologist, chats with Pete Poggione, an Information Technology Professional from the private sector turned School IT Director.

Technology Directors don't always make the decisions we feel are best for our students. All of our classrooms have unique challenges, opportunities, and realities, and it's incredibly easy to get caught up with the idea that everyone is ready for the change you need in your classroom. It's not always popular to "lead from consensus" but you may find that being patient and working closely on building positive relationships will lead to manageable change. This week's episode speaks to that reality; many school districts continue to separate student and teacher digital learning environments, as well as block access to certain tools and abilities that many feel students should have access to. Finding balance is key, and difficult. But the conversations are necessary, even if they take time.

Timestamps for this week's questions:

:58 What has Pete been up to?

3:45 Wait, so we don’t have more laptops and devices coming from the bond?

6:14 Jason asks, what importance does Pete see in keyboarding skills?

8:00 So Pete isn’t the type of guys that read instructions?

10:30 Steve asks, why do some school districts separate Staff Google Accounts from Student Google Accounts?

12:15 Why do Tech Directors want to separate staff systems and student systems?

17:55 Mr Wolski wants to know, should Google Hangouts be open for student Google Accounts so they can video chat with experts outside of the school?

22:05 Stump Pete!

23:15 What was Pete’s first computer? 

You can talk about the show or continue the conversations on Twitter using the hashtag #TechDirectorChat or chatting up Ben (@techsavvyed) or Pete (@ppoggione) on Twitter.