Are you plugged in?
The term school administrator brings a number of thoughts to those who may not work in education. For some it means a stern, strict administrator who disciplines students and handles problems.
While most administrators, including myself, do perform those duties, the role of a school administrator is much different than past eras. Administrators often refer to themselves as the "lead learners" as a school administrator needs to be at the forefront of learning to be an effective leader in their building.
One of the major ways that school leaders can take charge is through viewing themselves as the technological leaders in their school. Infusing technology has long been an aim of schools for many years, but Covid 19 required technology to be a key component of teaching and learning, and it transformed schools in innovative ways. Thompson (2021) proposed that it’s time for administrators to start viewing themselves as technology leaders too.
Technology infusion starts at the top. School administrators who champion technology are most successful if they are demonstrating that technology uses themselves. Edwards (2020) also notes that administrators develop a vision for how technology will be used in the building and how they will share this vision and incorporate it into the life of the school.
School administrators should look to the ISTE standards for school leaders. The five areas from ISTE’s framework for what they perceive to be the skills needed for administrators to be successful with technology leadership and integration are: equity and citizenship advocate, visionary planner, empowering leader, systems designer, and connected learner. The impact of these skills are seen in all areas.
Thompson (2021) challenges administrators to seek how technology can innovate the school; think of how technology needs to be used in the building, and as an administrator how best practices can be modeled for your students and staff.
Frazier and Herrington (2017) note that technology coordinators are key players in fostering, supporting, and sustaining the use of technology for teaching and learning. I would also say that in the schools of today, school administrators play many if not all of those same roles. Administrators must support the vision of the district but also their individual school and providing the resources and supporting those resources play a large role in the infusion of technology in the school.
In my estimation, it is vital that an administrator be “plugged in” and that can only be done when you are visible within the building and within the classrooms. I believe that you can have a pulse on what the strengths and weaknesses are among your teachers and students as it relates to technology use. It also will give you a better sense of how technology needs to be used and what are some areas in which upgrades may be needed.
While I consider myself relatively plugged in, I know that there are areas in which I can improve to model the leadership that I am speaking of. I need to continue to model technology use and continue to learn and stay abreast of new technologies. In order to be the technological leader I need to set the proper tone for the vision of the school.
References:
Edwards, L. R. (n.d.). How principals learn to be technology leaders: A critical incident qualitative study. ODU Digital Commons. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/efl_etds/233/
Frazier, M., & Hearrington, D. (2017). The Technology Coordinator’s Handbook.
ISTE. (2018). ISTE standards for education leaders [Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99qORAuCXLE
Thompson, V. (2021, September 13). Leading the way on technology integration. George Lucas Educational Foundation. https://www.edutopia.org/article/leading-way-technology-integration
Andrew,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your perspective on technology infusion from an administrator's viewpoint. I knew from personal experience how important it is to have administration's support when trying out new technology and resources, but I had not thought about the impact of an administrator modeling their use of technology. For example, if teachers are expected to use digital tools to communicate with students and parents, then administrators should be doing this as well. At my school, we are required to create a weekly newsletter for parents. My principal does this for the faculty in the form of a weekly memo. She uses Smore instead of just sending an email.
Administration must share the vision of the district's technology coordinator so that everyone understands and can see how the new technology or innovation can positively impact teaching and learning (Frazier and Hearrington, 2017). Not only can administration model the use of technology, they can also support and encourage teachers to try new things by providing adequate training. This doesn't have to be an expensive workshop. Administrators can call on the experience of teachers who are already utilizing technology in effective ways. These teachers can then introduce, model, and support teachers with technology tools (Thompson, 2021).
Thank you for sharing your perspective!
-Valerie Matson
References
Frazier, M., & Hearrington, D. (2017). The technology coordinator’s handbook (3rd ed.). International Society for Technology in Education.
Thompson, V. (2021, October 26). Making the most of your edtech toolbox. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/making-most-your-edtech-toolbox
As a technology coordinator who came from school administration, I love seeing this view. I always tried to demonstrate technology use from my position and go into classrooms to help troublshoot and find new ways to use devices. If more administrators modeled good technology use, there would be much less hesitation for teachers. There was an article posted in the fall that covered this topic: https://www.edutopia.org/article/leading-way-technology-integration
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