This resource is designed to define the SAGE organization and to help members succeed during their time in the EDTEC program. After reading the SAGE Handbook, you'll be familiar with:

• the SAGE officer roles and responsibilities;
• the SAGE Constitutional articles and by-laws;
• the facts about the educational technology field; and
• the academic resources available to EDTEC students.

SAGE includes the following officer positions:

• President
• Vice President of Administration
• Assistant to the Vice President of Administration
• Events Manager
• Digital Media Executive
• Assistant to the Events Manager and Digital Media Executive
• Community Executive
• Assistant to the Community Executive
• Distance Student Representative

The SAGE President facilitates communication among the SAGE officers, and between the officers and the general members (all Ed Tech grad students, alumni, faculty, staff, and the SDSU community).

The President has the following duties and responsibilities:

• Attends monthly faculty meetings and acts as a liaison between the SAGE membership and faculty.
  • Presents SAGE report to faculty.
  • Reports pertinent information back to SAGE officers.
  • Acts as advocate for student issues and concerns to faculty and administration.
• Plans, schedules, organizes and facilitates SAGE Executive and General meetings.
• Delegates responsibilities to executive officers and members.
• Strives to ensure that SAGE is meeting the current needs of its members and anticipating their future needs.
• Assists in establishing goals and objectives for the organization
• Coordinates the promotion of SAGE functions such as workshops, socials, company tours, panel discussions, and special events.

The Vice President of Administration serves the Ed Tech community as deputy of the SAGE President. The Vice President of Administration supports the SAGE President and SAGE Executive Committee in the planning and execution of SAGE activities and the facilitation of work flow. The duties and responsibilities of the Vice President of Administration are listed below.

The Vice President of Administration assists the SAGE President in performing the following duties:

• Plans, schedules, organizes and facilitates SAGE Executive meetings and SAGE General meetings.
• Facilitates communication between the SAGE Executive Committee, class representatives, and faculty.
• Supports the SAGE President in the preparation of meetings with the faculty.
• When the SAGE President is unavailable, the Vice President of Administration is responsible for standing in for the President by:
  • Attending faculty meetings as SAGE representative.
  • Presenting SAGE report to faculty.
  • Acting as advocate for student issues and concerns to administration and faculty.
  • Delegating SAGE responsibilities and duties to Executive Officers and members.

The Vice President of Administration supports fellow Executive Officers in ensuring that a variety of services are being offered to the Ed Tech community:

• Facilitates the planning and the organization of SAGE workshops, events, and activities addressing the needs of the Ed Tech community (e.g. personal growth, career development, etc.).
• Identifies topics and edits informational resources regarding issues which help Ed Tech students in performing current tasks or future activities (e.g. guidelines for effective studying, etc.).
• Establishes relationships with related SDSU graduate student associations as well as with student representatives of other Ed Tech programs throughout the country.

The Vice President of Administration ensures the improvement of the SAGE workflow by:

• Establishing guidelines and procedures for effective collaboration among the Executive Officers.
• Supervising the development of the SAGE institutional memory.

The Executive of Digital Media manages the SAGE email account and officer listserv, distributes email messages to SAGE members, and coordinates the maintenance, updates, and creation of new web pages for the SAGE Page website. The primary goal of the digital media coordinator is to promote SAGE community and events through email and web-based communications. The Executive of Digital Media has the following duties and responsibilities:

• Designs, develops, and maintains current web pages for the SAGE website.
• Updates events on the SAGE website calendar and home page.
• Recruits volunteers to add to the SAGE website content and design.
• Coordinates contributions of SAGE members and officers to the website.
• Provides technical support to SAGE officers and members as needed.

The Executive of Community ensures that SAGE has regular and recurring communication with its members and the EdTec Student body. Forms of communication may include newsletter articles, the bulletin board, e-mail, and classroom presentations. The goal of Community is to develop and maintain a positive image of SAGE within the EdTec community. The objective is to increase SAGE membership and to increase attendance at SAGE events. Under the direction of the President, and in concert with other SAGE officers, the Executive of Community will:

• Manage SAGE membership data.
• Maintain SAGE e-mail list. Check and respond to SAGE email on a daily basis.
• Recruit and coordinate class representatives for ongoing SAGE announcements in the classrooms.
• Ensure that the bulletin board is updated each month.
• Create and send email and hardcopy announcements of upcoming events.
• Organize and maintain SAGE folder of College of Education fileserver.

The SAGE Constitution consists of the following sections:

• Article I: Name
• Article II: Purpose
• Article III: Membership
• Article IV: Officers and Class Representatives
• Article V: Meetings
• Article VI: Amendments
• By-Laws

The purpose of SAGE shall be to:

1. provide a medium of communication between the students and faculty within the Department of Educational Technology;
2. develop educational activities for students which complement the Educational Technology program;
3. organize activities and provide services for students to facilitate employment within the field of educational technology; and
4. foster and promote a sense of community among its members.

Practitioners in the field of Educational Technology apply research in learning theory, psychology, and emergent technologies to solve instructional and performance problems. The Presidential Commission on Instructional Technology highlighted four areas in which Educational Technologists perform:

• Design of instruction
• Production of instructional products and events
• Management of instructional settings and resources
• Evaluation of instructional programs

Design activities include analyzing the needs of learners and developing learning systems that are consistent with those needs.

Production involves creating learning materials that meet instructional needs. These materials take many forms, including but not limited to: print-based materials, audio and video tapes, computer-assisted instructional programs, Internet sites, multimedia presentations, interactive video programs, simulations, and games.

Management activities include media center administration, learning center design, project supervision and direction, and resource allocation.

Evaluation of instruction involves assigning worth to instructional products, programs, or processes designed to solve performance problems or meet instructional needs.

Instructional needs or performance problems may exist in any organization or setting where people are expected to perform. For instance, relevant scenarios might include:

• instructing limited-English proficient parents regarding child care or school readiness
• training customers to use a product or employees to use new equipment
• teaching school teachers or students to use computers
• providing programs for homebound learners via distance education technologies

Every business, agency, institution, and school is concerned with performance; that is, each individual’s ability to contribute to the mission of the organization. Education and training are potent forces to enhance performance because they help assure that people will have the skills, abilities, and attitudes that they need to do their jobs. Educational technologists use systematic processes to meet educational and training needs. Practically speaking, they help people perform more effectively in rapidly changing technical and social environments.

Educational technologists offer tangible solutions to a variety of pressing instructional and performance problems. They work in many settings including health centers, K-12 schools, consulting firms, private industry, universities, multimedia development companies, adult learning centers, publishing houses, and social service agencies.

Virtually any setting holds opportunities for Educational Technologists. As jobs change and technologies are introduced, every work environment needs specialists to design, develop, deliver, and evaluate effective education and training. To give you an idea of the range of possibilities, the following is a partial list of career titles that attract Educational Technologists.

• Applications designer
• Curriculum developer/coordinator
• Distance education specialist
• Instructional designer
• Educator
• Educational development director
• Evaluation specialist
• Learning resources manager
• Multimedia developer/producer
• Media specialist
• Organizational developer
• Performance technology specialist
• Project manager
• Staff/human resources developer
• Technology coordinator
• Technical writer
• Trainer
• Usability specialist
• Webmaster

For a sample of the job opportunities available today, visit the EDTEC Department’s Online Jobs Database or ISPI San Diego’s Job List.

For more information about the EDTEC program---specifically, an overview of our programs; descriptions of courses; and application procedures---please review the EDTEC Handbook (http://edtec.sdsu.edu/handbook) OR http://edtec.sdsu.edu/distance/handbook.htm).

[back to top]

[back to top]