3.6 Assignment Critical Reflection Journal – Blog
Educational Technology, Leadership, and Innovation – Putting it All Together
Write a reflective blog post on this week’s readings, Roundtable dialogue, and/or action research learnings. The blog writing may be your choice, but it must be substantive, including outside scholarly works.
Educational Technology, Leadership, and Innovation – Putting it All Together
Education leaders develop a shared vision for how technology in the classroom can support learning and how to secure appropriate resources (both people and finances) to sustain technology initiatives. Educational leaders should seek input from diverse stakeholders throughout the school district to adopt and communicate clear goals for teaching, leading, and learning facilitated by technology. Educational technology leaders must model tolerance for risk and experimentation and create a culture of knowledge, trust, and innovation.
In education, the effective use of technology can provide many benefits for students and teachers alike. Technology has many uses in such miscellaneous areas as professional development, curriculum development, distance or online learning, and teaching students the skills needed for a successful career in the technologically integrated world of the 21st century and beyond. Yet, educational technology leaders must advocate for integrating technology into a school district, school site, or classroom. To take advantage of the benefits of technology, there is a need for expert individuals to assume leadership roles and promote technology for educational purposes.
The use of technology in the classroom enables personalized pathways for student learning through collaborative learning experiences by having clearly defined learning outcomes to guide instruction. The learning outcomes, aligned curriculum, education, and assessment reflect the multidisciplinary nature of knowledge, prepare students for a participatory culture through attention to digital literacy and citizenship, and attend to general skills and outcomes, such as reflection, critical thinking, persistence, and perseverance.
An educational technology leader has a more prominent and defined role than a regular teacher or administrator. Schrum and Levin (2009) state that it can be expected that all educational leaders are responsible for "changing the culture of a school" (p. 104). With this in mind, the role of an educational technology leader within a school is unique compared to that of other leaders. Schrum and Levin (2009) assert “the role of the educational technology leader as one who integrates modern technology focused on collaboration.”
A technology leader has a more focused role and increased responsibilities within their school. They must continually stay on top of new and emerging technologies, the purchase of technology resources, and, more importantly, how the technologies will be used to improve and modernize instruction. This role is vitally important and must be fulfilled by leaders who understand and endorse practical leadership principles and have a working knowledge of technology and how to use it in the classroom effectively to meet defined learning objectives.
Educators should collaborate to make instructional technology decisions based on a diverse data set. This includes student and teacher observations and reflections, student outcomes, formative and summative assessment results, and data from analytics embedded within learning activities and software aided by real-time data. Technology is integral within and beyond the classroom for collaboration, exploration, composition, and connecting with others worldwide.
Implementation is key. Although a clear vision is critical to transforming the teaching and learning process, a strategic implementation plan is crucial to success. Educational leaders should work in teams to create an implementation plan; leaders also should solicit input and feedback from a broad range of stakeholders such as administrators, lead teachers who are experienced in using technology to support learning, professional organizations, school board members, knowledgeable members of the community, business leaders, cultural institutions, colleagues in other districts, and parents.
References
Schrum, L. & Levin, B.B. (2009). Leading 21st Century Schools: Harnessing Technology for
Engagement and Achievement. Corwin: Thousand Oaks, CA.
