Setting Up a Tech Team Can Develop Students’ Problem-Solving and Leadership Skills

Three years ago, I ran into a familiar problem: Our high school’s device support queue was a mile long, and I was stretched too thin to help everyone while also fulfilling my duties as a tech integration coach.

So I turned to our students, nine of whom joined a brand-new after-school tech team. I quickly realized, though, that many of the tech issues these students could solve were occurring during the school day. Our nine members also needed more direction than to simply repair laptops.

We pivoted to a different strategy. Weekly after-school meetings became strategy time, and I created a volunteer option for students who wanted to come to the tech team room during their lunch period. I wanted students to feel a real sense of ownership and responsibility—that they were benefiting their school and community, and doing so in a manageable way. We instituted three “departments”: IT support, organizational development, and marketing. Each department was assigned a lead, with other students in supporting roles. Students could choose a path that matched their strengths and resembled real-world work.

This time, the tech team really took off. Through word of mouth, it grew from nine students to 25 students, a number that has remained steady in the three years since then. Below are some of the benefits to instituting and/or restructuring a student tech team at your school.

Students Improve More Than Just Tech Skills

For one student, the tech team’s marketing department was an entry point into leadership that she had not yet imagined for herself. As a sophomore, she was quiet, creative, and still unsure of her voice. She had a strong sense of personal style and a natural eye for design, but speaking in front of adults made her nervous.

At first, she did not see herself as someone who might represent a schoolwide program. In fact, she joined the tech team because her brother was the IT lead; she saw how the team functioned in meetings and wanted to help however she could. The first task I gave her was to create a flyer for an upcoming event. Gradually, she came to enjoy designing, communicating, and shaping how others experienced the work of the tech team.

By the time she graduated last year, she had created campaigns for Chromebook care, promoted a school-run podcast, presented her professional learnings to teachers in our district, and disseminated event resources about our biggest projects. Her personal growth was an affirmation that a tech team gives students more agency and voice, rather than solely being a side project to practice technical skills.

Another student joined the tech team by accident, after wandering into our “Hour of Code” event at lunch. I noticed how she naturally stepped in to help other students interact with a station, and I invited her to attend a meeting. She eventually became our organizational development lead, helping to plan projects, coordinate events, and create systems that still run today. We recently caught up, and I asked what she felt she gained from her time on the tech team. She didn’t name a tech skill; she mentioned patience, leadership, adaptability, and being able to step outside of her comfort zone.

Students Are Encouraged to Solve Real-World Problems

As the tech team expanded, some of its members started to notice friction points that slowed down their work. During our strategy meetings, I facilitated brainstorming sessions and tech-oriented solutions about schoolwide learning events, teacher professional learnings, and school operations/student support.

Among the student suggestions was to start participating in a global “Hour of Code” event, where tech teams design schoolwide activities that are centered on an annual theme. Last year was an “Hour of AI.” Our tech team built a variety of fun and creative stations for our student body to learn about prompting and ethical AI use. Students also created and facilitated presentations for teachers on how to use AR and robotics in the classroom, helped with device collection and distribution, made student-facing videos for Chromebook care and procedures, and even built a device ticketing app.

The device ticketing app is an especially impressive example of the tech team’s hard work and problem-solving. It began when two students noticed that our Google Form ticketing system made it difficult to ascertain how far along devices were in the repairs process. They came to me with an alternative idea: to build something better. Together, we mapped out new features, navigated barriers, and decided on the sort of information that different users would need to see. After four months of development, the two students released a web-based app with Canva Code featuring varying levels of access for tech team members, other students, and administrators.

The app made it much easier to track devices through the repair process and notify students when their devices are ready for pickup. It demonstrates the sort of enriching, empowering learning experience that a tech team can provide: Students identified a problem, analyzed the existing system, gathered feedback, built a solution, revised it, and created something that improves the way our school operates. We still use it today.

Students Learn to Adjust to Deadlines, Not Just Due Dates

A larger tech team necessitates changes to how students understand deadlines and stay accountable to one another. In addition to fulfilling their tech team responsibilities, students are expected to uphold a B average in their classes. Students who volunteer during their lunch period use a digital sign-in sheet, which tracks hours and makes their time investment visible.

Because the work happens in a real school environment, deadlines have genuine consequences. When students planned their “Hour of AI” event, for instance, I heard them say, “Pull it together! We have to finish this part so we can print it in time to set up on Monday.” When they practiced their presentation for a professional learning, students gave each other feedback about their delivery and pushed each other to produce their best work. And when tech team members sent updates about device repairs, they made sure their information was accurate; they were well aware that another student was waiting for their Chromebook so they could complete assignments.

For educators interested in implementing a tech team at their school, my recommendation is to not over-strategize. Start small, identify the work around you, and be flexible about how students can take ownership. The key is to facilitate more than you manage, which gives students the structure and trust to do meaningful work they can carry forward.