When you start working with technology in the classroom, it can be a huge undertaking. Successful integration means more than purchasing some fancy gear; the hard work really begins after the equipment is installed. 

Technology requires regular maintenance and support: hardware needs to be updated; repairs are needed; teachers and students need to be trained how to use the new equipment, etc. The actual teaching can also be a challenge when students are using technology. Ensuring students stay on task while you circulate to help and check in with every student is no small feat. 

Developing a student tech team might be your best solution. 

Being a member of a tech team can be empowering for students, teaching life skills that otherwise might be unaddressed in the curriculum. Much will depend upon the logistics and culture of your school, but there are many ways to start cultivating student tech experts. 

First, identify students who are highly proficient technology users. You can ask staff to recommend kids, post fliers or have the students “interview” for the position. The students will be filling an important role, so make it enticing. Create incentives. Is there an opportunity for course credit, internship credit or extracurricular credit? Get T-shirts or lanyards made to identify participants. Organize a culminating trip for the end of the semester. Come up with a cool name. 

Second, if some kids know more about tech than you do, don’t be inhibited. Let them teach other students, but with your guidance. They definitely don’t know as much about good teaching and learning strategies as you do. Here are some ideas you can adapt, depending on schedule or commitment level: 

Create an actual class for technology credit. Racking up credits is motivating, and it would add at least one period when students could help teachers in the classroom or during their preps. See a syllabus developed by a Massachusetts teacher for curriculum guidance. 

Host an after-school club or a lunch and learn. Let kids teach other kids, with you as facilitator. If it’s during the school day, let the students visit other classes. If it’s after school, students (or even teachers) could sign up for student-led workshops and tutoring. They can work on “fix-it” projects, which can be dropped off at any time. 

Identify tech leaders for each classroom. Students could help their teachers during their own classes. Be watchful of them falling behind with their own coursework, however. 

Create tutorials to be shared at any time. Students can make their own videos, presentations or e-manuals on how to use specific technology gear or troubleshooting. Be sure to edit and vet whatever students create to ensure high quality. Then, share these tutorials so others benefit from their knowledge. 

Assign a “tech helper.” Although a full-scale tech team might not be possible in an elementary school, you can regularly assign a student to help with technology as a classroom job. This student can also work on projects where students teach other students about using technology. 

Having extra help aids teacher facilitation, planning and even classroom management. There’s no more surefire way to take a class off track than raising students’ expectations to use technology and having it perform slowly or fail to work at all. Getting extra help, especially from peers, can make all the difference. 

Student tech teams not only help students gain more technology knowledge, but they also develop leadership and social skills. Like anything that starts from the ground up, creating a student tech team can be a lot of work at first but can be beneficial for all involved in the long run.