At the end of this academic year, my sixth as Educational Technologist, I was again included in the Administrative Evaluations wherein teaching faculty respond to a dozen or so questions about various members of the school administration.
Embedded below is the file that I was given; I have made no edits or changes to the PDF.
Educational Technologist evaluation
Last year, there were two critical comments that I resolved to work on. One was about me not knowing enough about all of the academic disciplines to offer assistance; that did not show up again in this year’s evaluation. The second critique mentioned a condescending attitude turning a teacher off from attending classes or asking for help. This comment did not come up again as a stand-alone comment.
The one comment that is sticking with me since receiving the comments this morning is a combination of a number of different elements:
He is condescending in his manner and tone, he does not appear to want to expand his horizons beyond what he deems is right, and generally approaches training sessions as if everyone is an idiot. I understand that many need the basic instruction in these seminars, but he should provide more differentiated instruction. In addition, it seems like he is reluctant to share information that will result in a loss of his personal power over others.
This comment seems to be coming from a different place than those in last year’s evaluation; this one seems to be coming from someone who is trying to integrate more technology into their teaching. I try to share everything that I know; I want to share everything. I want to reach out to folks who are working towards incorporating additional elements into their teaching. Clearly, I’m not communicating that well enough, to the right people, in the right places, or often enough. Maybe that’s what I need to work on for next year?