Meet Matchbook Learning’s new Chief Technology Officer:  Al Motley

Matchbook Learning seeks to redesign and turnaround schools in some of our nation’s most challenged communities.  Al’s father was an active and committed member in many of these challenging communities, wherein Al and his family would be involved in both attending their local neighborhood school.  Al attended high school during the dot com boom era of the United States where it seemed like technology was transforming nearly every aspect of society, except his local school.  Al’s father sparked a community-wide concern in Al that would be shaped by the lack of access his fellow classmates had to this emerging technology gateway to the rest of the world.  This led to Al studying technology and innovation at Penn State University, then applying this knowledge and skill set first to education and non-profits and then within education non-profits.

We interviewed Al regarding his new role with Matchbook Learning.

What would you describe as the biggest challenge of being our Chief Technology Officer?

I think my biggest challenge as Chief Technology Officer will be leading our strategy for identifying and implementing technology systems and tools to help support our model. We will need to have a delicate balance of leveraging what the ed- tech market does well now with what tools are immediate needs. This is a good problem to have when you have a culture of innovation.

What are your goals for this next year?
My goal for next year is to build on our technology best practices from the past two years and standardize our tech platforms and documentation for future Matchbook schools. We have a strong hold on what it takes to support a blended learning environment and we have built some great systems and tools that I will work to strengthen over the next school year.

What are the keys to accomplishing a school turnaround?
The key to a successful school turnaround is to evaluate every procedure and system and create concise and thorough best practices where none exist. These are the keys to a school running smoothly and it allows for our educators to focus on our students’ success and building those relationships that boost student achievement.

What most attracted you to this position?
I was attracted to the CTO position because of the strong model that Matchbook Learning has developed. I believe that we must have an innovative and entrepreneurial culture to meet the challenges in our education system. I also saw the importance of technology in the model and how we will use tech tools to arm our teachers with the resources they need to meet their goals and the mission.

Why should gifted educators consider working for a Matchbook Learning school?

Educators should consider Matchbook because our model allows for a gifted professional to grow and receive the coaching they need to further their career and skill set. Our model also allows for more 1 on 1 student time and small group instruction, which I believe helps our educators to build the student relationships and trust needed to maximize student performance.

What are your expectations a year from?  How will you be different?
A year from now I expect to have built a strong rapport with my colleagues at Matchbook and to strengthen my leadership skills as a new Chief at Matchbook. I will continue to grow as a professional and find strong partners to help us strengthen the support for our schools.