There are some tools educators should not be expected to use without direct instruction and IT managers must plan for these needs when newly hired educators are “on-boarded” and to support educators during major transitions. The IT systems that require direct instruction include:
• Procedures and credentials for logging on to all systems that are needed by the professional, including local area network, email, and all web services used to manage employment, data, and instruction;
• Instructions for managing rosters and grades through the student information system; these systems are notorious for being “not user friendly,” which can be attributed to the differences between the vocabulary and structures used by designers and programmers and the language and methods used by educators;
• Instructions for posting to the educators’ page(s) on the school web site, the learning management system, social media sites, and other systems for sharing information with both internal and external audiences they are expected to use.
Implicit in this as well is the expectation that educators will be introduced to local policies and procedures relative to acceptable use, procedures to report malfunctioning IT systems, scheduling shared resources, accessing printers, and similar details related to individuals’ use of the specific IT systems installed in the school. On-boarding procedures for new staff must address these aspects of using IT, and changes in how these systems are configured necessitates training for all faculty and staff to ensure efficient and effective use of the new tools.