The Wrap Up

To be quite honest, this class was not what I had envisioned when I was first registered. I expected the outcomes of this class to be more aligned with what it means to be an instructional leader. I expected to gain knowledge of how to be effective through observations, how to lead academic teams and how to effectively lead an academic department. Upon reading the syllabus, my vision of what the class was going to be changed dramatically. It became quickly obvious that the class focus was to teach aspiring administrators the importance of ensuring that we are integrating technology, while also helping our teachers, as well as ourselves, become “digital citizens.” Indeed, I learned a lot about the nature of the 21st century learner and how to effectively provide professional development for teachers, so they understand the needs of the 21st century learner. I feel that this course has taught me valuable information about my strengths and weaknesses as a technological instructional leader. In addition, this class has provided me with tools to not only be an effective technology leader on my campus, but also an effective 21st communicator.

The one skill that was not a surprise was using multiple data sources to drive instruction. This concept, not a new one to me, was reinforced significantly. Students and education have changed. Teachers no longer find themselves in a position to be the giver of knowledge. Instead they find themselves to be facilitators of learning. Due to these changes, teachers must learn how to effectively use and plan according to what their data is telling them. From day to day lesson planning, to accommodating for small group instruction teachers must learn to effectively use data to drive their instruction. In addition, administrators must learn to effectively use a variety of data sources. For administrators, using data such as AEIS data and STaR chart data prove to be invaluable in planning for professional development. With this class, through looking at trend data from the STaR chart, it became quite apparent that my campus must do more to increase competency in the “Teaching and Learning” domain of the Long Range Plan for Technology.

This area also happens to be one of difficulty for me as an administrator, really the only set back I feel I had in this course. Our district has a separate technology department which serves all campuses. The way technology is set up; it seems to run parallel to campus administration rather than coordinating and collaborating. In addition, the overriding thinking for most of the technology facilitators is that they “own” the technology. Most are unwilling to help or not easy to approach as resources. The results are sometimes frustrating, since state and local expectations require students, teachers, and administrators to regularly access and implement technology. If our resources are unavailable due to equipment issues or lack of training, implementation fails. The collaboration between the campus technology facilitator, administration and teachers must improve.

However, not all areas of implementation are experiencing setbacks. Blogging is a tool that shows great potential for providing another means to effectively communicate with peers and as a means for communication for the 21st century learner. A skill unknown to me before quickly became an exciting new tool that will be used in the future to keep teachers and parents informed about upcoming events. I envision this as a tool that will be used to keep parents quickly and accurately informed about the exciting things that are going on in the classroom. Blogs are updated quickly and allow me to collaborate with other administrators quickly and efficiently. The applications of blogging extend far beyond the administrative offices. Teachers can use the space to share ideas of lesson planning and collaborate with others outside of their school buildings and outside of their districts. Students can use blogs to communicate with teachers or reflect on the days lessons.

The overriding concern I find with using blogs is ensuring students’ safety, a problem that is faced when using any number of technological advances. Encouraging students to use blogs can open the door to many issues such as posting personal information, pictures, etc. We must ensure that students are properly trained to avoid the dangers that exist when using any number of technological tools. Ensuring that students are not using other students’ blogs to engage in cyber bullying has to become a priority when teaching student how to use this tool. Cyber bullying is rapidly become a growing issue with the increased use (by students) of text messaging, social networking and blogs.

For the most part, this course taught me quite a bit about the importance of a component of instructional leadership that most are scared to talk about, technology. For most administrators, this seems to be an intimidating area because most have a fear of the negative aspects that technology brings. Intimidating or not, the nature of the learner has changed. Administrators must not only recognize that times have changed, but plan for the implementation of technology, on a regular basis, in the classroom. The assignments in the course successfully provided me with a new understanding on how the topic of technology, must be one that is a priority for myself and my staff. To be quite honest, technology is not a weakness of mine and therefore, while the assignments proved to be challenging at times, I felt that I completed them successfully and learned a lot in the process.