Yes, I’ll help with your projector. And your powerpoint. But…
How is my job different from a Help Desk?
Because a regular Help Desk is concerned with the operational status of your technology. Does it work? Do you know how to use it? My job has elements of that, certainly, but it is simultaneously broader and narrower. For example, I am the primary administrator for the Blackboard course management system. This means I am concerned over whether or not it is working, and will help teach you how to use it. But I will also create new resources for it, manage student and instructor enrollments, create backups, hold workshops, and critically examine what we do with it, why, and how can we go beyond. I will not only answer the questions of Does it work, and Can you use it, but I will also be sure to understand it and to understand How to use it effectively. I will also trawl the technological world looking for new things to pick up and use, like the site this blog is on, Edublogs. I am responsible for more than just the tools we have today, but also to find new tools for tomorrow. By understanding the needs of instruction, and not just the needs of instructors, I can move beyond making sure the tools are working, and into the realm of helping pick which tool to use to achieve the desired task. To use a crude analogy, Technical Support can tell you how to use a screwdriver, and make sure that the screwdriver works. They may even go so far as to tell you that you need a Phillips head or a flat head screwdriver. I will also know about Torx and square head. I can also tell you that what you really need for keeping those papers together is a stapler, not a screw and a screwdriver.
This is not to belittle Technical Support. My own background is that of many years of Technical Support. Unfortunately, support operations are the lowest rung on the IT totem pole, despite often having the most interations with the customers. They are also often limited to working with the tools in the toolbox, so may not be at the luxury of stepping back and looking at what you are trying to do, and can only see what you are trying to do it with.
