Zach Sennett

Get to Know Zach

I am currently a Digital Media teacher at an online public school in Durham, North Carolina. I work with middle schoolers developing digital literacy skills, content creation, and developing digital portfolios anchored in the ISTE standards. I also hope to help K-12 teachers develop effective online course offerings. I am new to this current role but I am very excited about all of the possibilities for different ways to grow as an instructor and a learner.

I didn't start off my career as a Technology Facilitator or Technology Teacher. I fell into it by accident. I started my teaching careeer in 2007. I graduated from Arcadia University, which is just north of Philadelphia. I graduated with a Bachelors degree in Elementary Education and I was certified to teach grades K-6.

I spent the 2007-2008 school year teaching a pre-school class, working as an interventionist, substituting in a nearby school district, and coaching high school baseball. It was hard work and I loved every minute of it. I decided I wanted go somewhere new in the summer of 2008 and applied for teaching positions across the United States. I was offered a position in Durham, North Carolina, packed up my things and headed south.

My first full-time teaching postion was as a fourth-grade teacher. I was responsible for teaching all core subject areas to classes of 25-35 students. Like any new teacher, I'm sure I learned more in those first few years than my students did. I was fortunate to work in a school with other young teachers. We had to figure everything out for ourselves. During this time, my school became a 1-1 school. Every student and teacher in the school was assigned an iPad. This was in the infancy of 1-1 initiatives and the iPad itself had only debuted a year before. The initiative didn't last long. However, I learned I had a good handle on digital technology and had a better idea of how to use digital technology in my instruction.

I took a third-grade position at a different school in 2011. Even though I didn't consider myself an EdTech expert by any definition, my new school was looking to incorporate more technology into their instruction and I found that my previous experience in a 1-1 environment was valuable. Our school didn't have plans to go 1-1, but they were looking at different ways to add more technology effectively.

Shortly after I started my new position, we piloted a smart projector initiative in our district. My class was one of the first classrooms in Durham to get a smart projector. I quickly learned the ins and outs of projector set ups and my colleagues started seeking me out any time they had questions about instructional technology. I really liked troubleshooting issues and making things work properly. Projector questions and set ups became one of my unofficial job responsibilites and I was happy to help.

Since I had a pretty good grasp for the nuts and bolts of making digital technologies work in the classroom, more and more digital technology things started coming my way. If new printer systems were installed, I created trainings and professional development for how to use the new systems. When our district transitioned to G Suite, I worked with teachers informally to help them learn how to use it.

I eventually realized that I was doing a lot of the jobs that a Technician or Technology Facilitator would do in addition to my teaching responsibilities. A technology teaching and facilitator position opened up at my school and it made sense for me to transition into that role. I started the Learning Design and Technology graduate program at NC State in the fall of 2019 and I earned my M.Ed. in December, 2021.

I love working with new technologies and I love teaching. I am very interested in finding ways to help IT departments make digital tools more accessible to students and staff in public schools. IT systems should be secure. They should also provide easy and safe solutions so that all students and staff can access digital tools to expand learning outside of the walls of the school building.