Hi! My name is Ali Linck and I am the face behind Sunshine in Primary. I am a 1st grade teacher as well as a freelance educational technologist. I have always had a passion for teaching & I love my firsties but I wanted MORE.
After graduating in 2019 with my Undergraduate Degree in Elementary Education, I went on to a Master’s Degree in Educational Technology. I often get asked what that degree consisted of? What can I do with that degree? What do you do with that degree? What did you study? I am here to answer all of your questions because as if I wasn’t passionate enough about education this degree lit a new flame for me.
What do Educational Technologists do?
This is a loaded question because truthfully the answer is a lot of things depending on the job. Essentially, our job is to access technology used, access how it is used and plan for better implementation. Technology is ever changing and that can be difficult to keep up with, that is where an Educational Technologist steps in. What that looks like varies depending on the setting and specific job. In the next section, I will outline some job choices for Educational Technologists.
Educational Technologist Jobs
Educational Technologists work in a variety of settings of which are growing every day!
When people think of Educational Technology, they often assume this means jobs within education. It can! Such as:
- Classroom Teacher (me!)
- Computer Teacher
- Media Specialist
- STEM/STEAM Teacher
- Course Designer (how fun!)
- Faculty Support and Development
- Instructional Coach
- Educational Technologist (Many of these positions are for a district as a whole or for a university)
- Online Teacher
- Instructional Designer (Many of these positions are at a college level or in hospitals)
- Curriculum Designer/Developer
It can also mean they work as:
- Corporate Trainers
- Designer of Training Materials
- Consultants
- Project Managers (My someday dream)
- Analysts
- Directors of Training
- Vice Presidents for Professional Development
- Multimedia Script Writers
- Design & Development Specialists
The possibilities are endless! As technology grows and evolves these positions are not going anywhere.
What do you study in an Educational Technology program?
Taking on a degree program can be scary especially when you are not entirely sure of what it entails! I would always advice you to look at the program specifics from the university you are attending. However, from my experience here are the things I studied in my Educational Technology program:
- VR/AR Systems
- Robots & Coding
- Computer Systems: Mac vs. PC
- Applications used on various devices for productivity
- Applications for teaching various contents
- Digital Citizenship
- Creating inclusive teaching environments
- Grant Writing
- Website Development
- Website Design
- Course Development
- and More!
What do I do with my Educational Technology degree?
Currently, I teach in first grade and am a freelance educational technologist. I run Sunshine in Primary after hours of teaching & on the weekends giving trainings, selling products and giving advice to other elementary teachers who are struggling with implementing technology in their classroom. What I found throughout my Master’s was that there was a lack of training in schools when it came to technology. District Admin or Curriculum Offices pushed technology into classrooms (as they should) but no one knew what to really do with it. This causes stressed out teachers who end up pushing it to the wayside. This is where Sunshine in Primary was born. I knew that I could help these teachers feel confident in using technology without feeling like they are relying on it. Ultimately, my goal is to show teachers how to use technology as a supplement to teaching, not the teaching.
In the future? Well, no telling where time will take me. I would love to continue running this brand and design courses. Whether that is freelancing or working through a course developer, time will tell. I also think I would really enjoy project managing (Type A all the way). I find ease in knowing that I have options because I always knew I would not be the teacher in the classroom for 30 years.
I could talk about my passion for Educational Technology forever but I will save you from that! I hope you found this article helpful and as always if you have questions, ask! I am here to help
