4.6 Assignment Critical Reflection Journal – Blog

Using Technology to Create a Culture of Innovation and Change

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.

Using Technology to Create a Culture of Innovation and Change

Taking full advantage of technology to transform learning requires effective leadership capable of creating a shared vision of which all educational community members feel a part. Educational leaders who believe they can delegate the articulation of an idea for how technology can support their learning goals to a CIO (Chief Information Officer) or CTO (Chief Technology Officer) need to understand how technology can impact learning. Technology alone does not transform education, but it does help enable transformative learning. The vision begins with discussing the need to change its educational outcomes and what role technology will have. Once these goals are clear, technology can open new opportunities for accomplishing ideas that would otherwise be out of reach.

Moving to a learning environment powered by technology can mean changes in the specific skills and competencies required of educational leaders. Education leaders need hands-on personal experience with learning technologies, an understanding of how to use technological resources effectively, and how technology can improve learning outcomes. 

To help educational leaders move toward creating the technology-based infrastructure and human capacity necessary to implement change that creates transformative learning driven by technology, they should focus on four key areas: collaborative leadership, personalized student learning, robust infrastructure, and personalized professional learning.

Collaborative Leadership

Collaborative educational leaders must develop a shared vision for how technology can support student learning outcomes and how to secure the necessary resources to implement technology initiatives. Collaborative educational leaders must seek input from diverse stakeholders to adopt and communicate clear goals for teaching, leading, and learning facilitated by technology.  They must implement technology through a collaboratively developed strategic plan and how it will be used as a learning tool for students and teachers. Finally, collaborative educational leaders must be creative and forward-thinking in securing sustainable human and capital resources to support technology implementation.

 Personalized Student Learning

Technology enables a personalized pathway for student learning outcomes through personalized and collaborative learning, which is clearly defined and guides instruction. The outcomes must be aligned with the curriculum, instructional techniques, and assessment.  They must also reflect the multidisciplinary nature of knowledge, preparing students for a participatory culture that promotes digital literacy and digital citizenship, including reflection, critical thinking, persistence, and perseverance. 

Educational leaders must collaborate to make instructional decisions based on data, which includes student and teacher input, student work, formative and summative assessment results, and data from learning activities. Education Policy and teaching methods should support students’ preferred learning style by designing curriculum and learning activities that demonstrate the desired outcomes.

Robust Infrastructure

A robust technology infrastructure is essential to support learning environments in the 21st Century and beyond. Educational leaders must also recognize the importance of developing, creating, and maintaining the technology infrastructure by supporting these efforts through careful planning and financial stewardship, focusing on long-term sustainability. Educational leaders must take ownership of and have appropriate personnel to maintain the infrastructure through ongoing development and maintenance.  However, a challenge for many educational institutions is the need for broadband services in many parts of the United States.  This is particularly true in rural areas. 

Personalized Professional Learning

There must be ongoing relevant professional learning that is designed and led by teachers with support from other experts in the field of educational technology.  Educational leaders must develop clear outcomes for professional learning aligned with a clear vision centered on student learning and outcomes.  Educational leaders must engage in collaborative inquiry to build the staff and the school’s knowledge base through face-to-face, online, and blended professional learning networks. Educational leaders ensure that professional learning planning is participatory and ongoing. Professional learning should bring teachers and staff members together, ensuring that technology resources and tools, time for collaboration, and appropriate incentives support professional learning activities.

Summary - Implementation is Crucial

            Although a clear vision is critical to transforming teaching and learning through technology, a strategic implementation plan which includes technology is crucial to success. Developing technology implementation plans is necessary to accomplish this.  This can be accomplished by working in collaborative teams to create and develop an implementation plan. Educational leaders should seek input and feedback from a broad range of stakeholders, including administrators, teachers with experience using technology that supports learning, professional organizations, industry experts, business owners in the community, and parents.

References

Lemke, C., Coughlin, E., Garcia, L., Reifsneider, D., & Baas, J. (2009). Leadership for Web 2.0

 in education: Promise and reality. Culver City, CA: Metiri Group.

Sheninger, E. (2014). Digital leadership: Changing paradigms for changing times. Thousand

Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.