Garth Algar summed up my own inhibitions when I started this book, “We fear change” (Wayne’s World, 1992). Coming into a world of digital leadership, the change should not be feared and as a digital leader, we have to make others comfortable using the technology. Sheninger echoes these ideas throughout the book and helps provide a foundation for instating change in schools. Technology is not designed to supplant quality teaching practices, but should be used to supplement quality teachers and their practices.
Stepping into the digital world will take a great deal of work and a leader will face many challenges. Sheninger outlines many of the roadblocks that we will face, but also provides solutions to these problems. For my own practices, I found chapter 3 and chapter 10 to be the most useful because it helped me think of solutions to the problems that I know we will face in implementing new digital mediums. The challenge as an administrator is adapting methods outlined in the book to your own situation and school. For example, some schools may have a weak infrastructure that is not capable of adapting new technologies. Finding the solution to this problem is the first step in digital leadership. Other schools may have to provide more training to their staff to elicit a comfort level in technology, which in turn will help teachers use the technology to aid student achievement. Each situation will have their own challenges and as Sheninger outline, this is our challenge as digital leaders.
The second big takeaway that I had from this book is to have answers to staff members, parents, and community members on why we need to use technology in schools. Having data to reinforce the changes made in schools will hopefully create more buy-in from all stakeholders. My students will be excited about the change, but have to make sure that everyone is on board for the change to be effective. I have heard from parents and staff that “all these changes are unnecessary” and “things have worked in the past, so why are to we change?” I have been hesitant to take the plunge, but now have more confidence because I have answers to those questions that can be backed up by other professionals. The second chapter outlined the reasons a school administrator would follow this path towards digital leadership. We are preparing students for the 21st century, where advances in technology outdated materials in a matter of days. Educators have no idea what the world will look like in 2 years, 10 years, or beyond. Educators need to adapt their methods to give students the skills to last in an ever changing environment.
The use of digital leadership will also allow for greater communication between families and educators. Education is the primary responsibility of families, but educators are the gateway to the learning. “Family involvement that supports student learning at home is linked to improve student achievement (Allen, 2009). For families to be involved, there needs to be continual communication. The use of social media is another tool in the bag for administrators to keep all stakeholders involved. Sheninger outlines this point very well in the book and points to the success stories that can be accomplished when using technology.
We may fear change, but we can no longer ignore the change in our schools. Changing a school will have roadblocks and hardships, but the end result can lead to greater student achievement.
Allen, J.. (2009). Family engagement in anywhere, anytime learning. Family Involvement Network of Educators
(FINE) Newsletter. Volume 1, Issue 1. Retrieved from http://www.hfrp.org/family-involvement/publications-resources/effective-home-school-communication
Sheninger, E. C. (2014). Digital leadership: Changing paradigms for changing times.
I have to admit; the Wayne's World connection sucked me into reading your blog first today. :) Great use of popular culture to engage your readers!!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your entire reflection, I find myself agreeing with you on many things. Infrastructure is one of the first things digital leaders need to determine before starting down the digi path. Older buildings may not be capable of a lot of things (we're told that the brick surrounding our building messes with a lot of wireless reception). Finding solutions to those problems should probably happen prior to rolling out 1:1 technologies and expecting students to use things that aren't quite working yet.
Involving families is also an important step as well. I think there may be challenges there too- what about parental concerns over the American Pediatrics recommendation of screen time? Do they think schools are infringing on that?
I'm with Ann...way to grab your attention to your blog! I wrote very similar ideas that the infrastructure must be in place first. Ours was "upgraded" district wide, but the first rollout of 1:1 for all our HS ran into quite a few wifi issues. It's hard to encourage teachers to utilize technology, but then not be able to compete the lesson you created due to wifi being down!
DeleteI do have parents that don't do any screen time at home. I try to address that we aren't on them all day and our goal is to have college and career ready students prepared to have a job in our very connected world. (I say this to third grade parents.)
I like that response for parents. Thank you
DeleteScreen time is a great question and I do not have enough information to make a strong stance one way or the other. My only good thought regarding screen time in schools is that technology and screens should not dominate all day every day. In elementary school, where I think this applies, teachers have direct contact with their students most of the day. So, they should be able to limit the amount of screen time a student has in the day.
ReplyDeleteOne huge problem I have found with my student population is that at home they do not have the infrastructure to run all the devices, so I have to limit the amount of technology that will be needed for home work. Party on Ann.
Hey Jim, great thoughts on our text. I was really interested in hearing what your thoughts were as a sitting assistant principal. I think you've got a great grasp on what needs to be done and it will be fun to follow the changes you implement this year!
ReplyDeleteI am excited too, but nervous. We shall see how this goes, but might as well jump in the deep end.
Delete