Jana Jordan

FRIT 7739: Site #2 Technology Coordinator Interview

February 25, 2020
1. Name of technology coordinator being interviewed.

Mrs. Matia Edwards, Media Specialist

2. What is your title? 

“I am the Media Specialist at Griffin High School.”

3. What type of degree is required for your position? 

“A Master’s Degree.”

4. Where did you obtain your degree? 

“I currently hold two Master Degrees-one in Business and one in Human Resources. My

Master’s in Business is from Keller Graduate School. My Master’s in Human Resources is from

Plymouth State University. My plan was get into organizational development. I wanted to create

a study to determine how the morale and overall culture of a school is obtained; what would

cause people to leave or stay in a place of employment. I just never fully pursued in that

direction. I am still very interested, though.”

5. What are your job responsibilities?

“My job requires me to manage book and technology inventories. I also collaborate with

teachers in regards to Media Center resources. I teach classes on plagiarism and credible

sources. I assist students with scholarships for college. Part of my responsibility that I take very

serious is creating a welcoming, inviting, and relaxing environment to faculty and students alike.

I create a culturally enriching space by pulling books that celebrates varying cultures. I

celebrate Women’s History Month, right now we have the Black History Month books on

display. I also pull Hispanic cultural books for relativity being that Latinos make up a decent
percentage of our population. I work directly with the Inventory Specialist for the county to

create inventory efficiency and recover lost items.”

6. What are typical daily activities for your job? 

“A typical day for me varies from day to day, sometimes within the day. Some days I have a meet

with Media Center Staff Day. This consists of planning with teachers on curriculum needs are

for the year. I offer support/tools or listen to requests for order. If it is a reasonable resource, it

will be considered for order. For example, our Spanish Teacher made a request for Spanish

books to be included in our school library. Also, class sets of Spanish Dictionaries were ordered

per her request. Our Greek Mythology section was limited and dated so we ordered books per

the teacher’s requests to update the section. Same as with Science, we purchased the resource

books, “What the Health?” These books teach students about their daily consumption of food.

We also ordered Water Pollution DVD’s for the Science Department. Each and every day my

main goal is to be of service to the teachers and students in as many ways as possible.” 

7. Do you have a budget that you control? How do you make decisions on selecting

resources for your stakeholders? 

“We currently have an Interim Principal due to Mr. Edwards our former Principal taking

another position in another county. Mr. Edwards was awesome when it came to budget. He

never gave me a dollar amount limit. He basically said anything I needed to ask. He stood by his

word, too. I think I have spent a total of maybe $15,000 just this year. Right before he left, he

told me to figure out any last-minute things I needed and he would get them ordered before he

left. So, that was an additional $6,000 just to beautify our library space. So, my budget has been

pretty flexible up until this point. When I place orders, especially on books, I try to get titles that

appeal to the kids here. I also use reviews from Kirkus, Amazon, and Goodreads. For example,
just recently I placed an order for the book, “The Hate You Give.” This book is current because

of the police brutality we are experiencing across the nation. This book is never left on the

shelves. I think the students really like it.”

8. Have you had an opportunity to impact technology implementation throughout your

school? Would you describe a specific example?

“Well, I ensure that each teacher has the technology of choice that they request per our sign-up

sheet. We have four MacBook carts, 10 iPad carts, and about 11 Chromebook Carts. I also offer

classes on Digital Citizenship, Plagiarism, and Credible Sources. In the Media Center I have

several technology stations set up with desktops, printers, and I even offer self -student check-out

and check-in. We have more than enough technology here, as a matter of fact, so much that we

have over a couple of hundreds of items we are trying to disposition at the moment.”

9. Does your school have a technology committee? How are technology decisions made?

“We do not have a technology committee at our school. I was recently asked to be the School

Technology Ambassador and serve on the district’s Technology Team. I am not sure what the

committee will consist of, our first meeting isn’t until May.”

10. What is the best part of your job? 

“The best part of my job would be the people. I genuinely love my co-workers. We have a very

positive vibe throughout our building. Also, the relationships I have already built with the

students. This is my first year here, however, the rapport I’ve built seems like I have been here

for years. I enjoy coming to work each and every day.”

11. What do you find to be the most challenging part of your job? 
“The most challenging part of my job is definitely the inventory! We have over 6,000 items on

inventory. The process is very strenuous and I receive little support from teachers. We are all

stressed during that time, but we have a plan in the works to make this process a lot less

stressful.”