21st Century Ed Leadership

I have grown throughout my most recent class (21st Century Ed Leadership) by looking more at the bigger picture of things. This class has made me look deeper into education, especially into my school’s and district’s technology plan, professional development, meetings, and vision and how technology fits into all these pieces. It has made me as Module 6 discussed, adapt to “the Changing Winds of Education”.  As I continue to embark on the technology specialist path, I must look beyond my classroom walls to make the technology implementation in schools greater for everyone.

Instead of just being a computer teacher in my school, I need to see myself as one of the technology leaders. I need to embrace my leadership and impart my knowledge onto others in my school and district. As principal Sheninger explained, "I found that if I was not up there front and center, working with my teachers, showing them that I truly had a vested interest in the utilization of these tools to engage students, to increase achievement, to make learning more relevant and meaningful, the initiatives would not take hold or be embraced."1

Some things I can do by looking at the bigger picture is continually seek out opportunities to assist teachers in using technology in the classroom. I can hold ‘brown bag’ seminars, provide professional development at our Wednesday building meetings, and/or create a webpage for seeking information or FAQs. Other ways would be to highlight success stories from teachers using technology on morning announcement or News of the Day, giving shout outs at building meetings, and so forth. In addition I could participate in the technology committee and submit technology highlights to our district’s newsletter. Some ways of providing professional growth opportunities to teachers and staff include:2

• Start users at one skill level and then allow them to move through subsequent levels in a tiered program to acquire more knowledge with technology while documenting their training outcomes and products. ese programs may also provide a way for users with advanced skills to test out.
• Use blogs, wikis, or course management systems, such as Moodle, to create and share courses or information with teachers.
• Encourage teachers to collaborate for training and/or implementation.
• Create a core group of trainers to teach others.
• Encourage attendance at regional technology conferences.
• Provide information about free online resources.

Sources:

1https://thejournal.com/Articles/2012/06/07/7-habits-of-highly-effective-tech-leading-principals.aspx?Page=7

2https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ867962.pdf