A Job Announcement Analysis of Educational Technology Professional Positions

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to identify the competencies of an educational technologist via a job announcement analysis. Four hundred job announcements were collected from a variety of online job databases over a 5-month period. Following a systematic process of collection, documentation, and analysis, we derived over 150 knowledge, skill, and ability statements from the job announcements themselves based on a conceptual framework. We coded the frequency to which the competencies occurred in each announcement and summarized the results meaningfully in our article. Results suggest educational technologists must be competent in multiple areas, but especially in instructional design, project management, technical skills, and soft skills. Results provide compelling evidence that educational technology professionals must work with a wide variety of stakeholders in their work. The findings of our research are relevant to professionals, professional associations, and academic programs interested in competencies. A discussion for the results is provided.