Challenge: Ryan Clark is a Health teacher and innovation coach. At White Bear Area Schools the innovation coaches are responsible to support a team of about 600 teachers with the increasing demands from new technology. While teaching students remains his primary focus, finding time to support the tech needs of his colleagues can be a challenge.
Process: Pre-iorad, the process was to use Awesome Screenshot to snag step by step screenshots or do a video screencast for more lengthy processes. These tools worked but took an extraordinary amount of time to produce. For Ryan and the innovation team, it took quite a bit of time away from their primary teaching roles or their family time at home. Post — iorad, Ryan has found that anything that’s super technical from a distance, there isn’t a better tool. He noted that the teachers are ecstatic about iorad because they find it’s very logical. The hurdle to use is very low. He said anyone can click on it and follow the links. The teachers love that they can reference back to it. Ryan will paste a short link in an email and off his instruction goes. For District-wide communication, he likes to download the cropped images PDF to distribute. Ryan has also created a library of iorad’s using a table in a Google Doc so that his colleagues can reference any tutorial he’s created in the past when they need it.
Results: Ryan shared: “Iorad doesn’t only have a better output but it’s more efficient to get there. I can make an iorad in 10 minutes, which I love & is important to me. I’m balancing 2 roles so for me that efficiency is key. For everyone, it’s key. The magic of teaching is connecting with students face to face. I never want to feel like I’m saying no to that, to say yes to administrative tasks. It frees me up to have face to face with kids which is really the transformative part of education. The dynamic between teacher & student.” Thanks to iorad, teaching students can remain Ryan’s priority as he continues to support his secondary role, innovation coach.
