What is your general definition of teacher leadership?
A teacher that takes charge of steering themselves and colleagues into the future of education.
What examples of teacher leadership have you observed or experienced?
When a group of teachers brought in the Innovation Zone to North Marion High School it was truly a great example of teacher leadership. They were able to meld two subjects together and make learning more in-depth for the entire school.
How is leadership for meaningful technology integration different from other kinds of leadership?
That’s just it, it isn’t different. Meaningful technology leadership is just another kind of leadership. Leadership is the same across all forms, only the material for which you are a leader changes.
From your perspective, what are the benefits and the challenges of teacher leadership for technology (for teachers, for students, for schools, for the profession)?
The biggest challenge is funding. Schools are always limited in their funding and getting the technology they need is a struggle. There is also the issue of some teachers having a mindset where they do not wish to change and insist on continuing education the same way they have been doing it their entire life. The benefits are endless! Being able to reach more learning styles, making assignments more in-depth and at higher order thinking, and making it more fun for everyone involved. At the core of technology is critical thinking and that is what makes it such a wonderful learning tool.
Chapter 1 The Evolving Educational Landscape
Choose two characteristics of today’s learners and the resulting disconnects that they are experiencing in schools, provided by (Ian Jukes, Ted McCain, and Lee Crockett (2010), and post an agreement and/ or disagreement to our course blog.
Mobile Technology - I wholeheartedly agree with utilizing mobile technology in the classroom and other educational fields. It makes for one less expense the educator has to worry about since the majority of the population has this technology already and for the one that don’t, it isn’t too expensive to have a few backups in the learning environment. In my learning environment they are used predominantly as a fact checking tool; students remember things better if they had to look it up themselves. A technique that can be used is randomly putting in misconceptions into the lesson to see if the students will check the questionable fact and correct the educator. THis makes sure they are paying attention and can help them gain one of the most important lessons; don’t believe everything you hear. There are now more and more websites that are friendly to mobile devices and even apps for learning that can help students learn material in different ways. Overall I would say that it is a blessing in disguise.
Gaming - Dr. Price offers a class that is all about gaming in education and I also adore video games, so my bias is obviously towards this type of education. So much problem solving and high order thinking is applied to make these games more challenging for gamers that it helps them develop better cognitive skills. Problem solving is the key to all education and deciphering codes and puzzles will increase a student's critical thinking abilities. Games like Civ use real historic events and characters to make the game more realistic and giving players a history lesson at the same time. If a student learns about the upcoming events in history before they happen in the game they can see how the game will play out and plan a strategy to conquer that obstacle. Games more for more than just fun, they are an underutilized learning tool.
Chapter 2 Why Schools Must Change
According to The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) ten guidelines have been identified to assist school leaders in integrating technology in their schools and leadership practices. Which two guidelines seem the most important to you? (Post to blog)
The principal must provide appropriate professional development time and resources to support effective classroom implementation of technology.
All of the latest and greatest technology is useless if no one knows how to use it. Professional development time and resources to support effective classroom implementation of the technology is a top priority. Once the educators know how to use this technology and have it setup the way they want to use it in the classroom, it can make an easier transition into implementation in everyday lessons. Without this, educators tend to stray away from the technology because it takes too much time or effort to figure it out alone and setting up the technology can be an even larger hassle that makes using the technology not even seem worth it.
The principal must support early adopters and risk takers.
This is how new technology is harnessed in the classroom to start with; even though it may not work out the way they wanted, or at all, if there is a chance it could revolutionize the way we educate students it is worth the risk. Supporting early adopters and risk takers is how we started using technology in the classroom in the first place isn’t it?
Sean,
ReplyDeleteI made the same reflection with regard to the funding or lack there of for technology leadership and integration. Some counties in WV are struggling in this area, others seem to be taking the lead due to grant writing and proactive teachers and administrators. I mentioned in my Module 1 posting that I was able to purchase 14 ipads for my department, which isn’t enough for a classroom of 30 kids unless they share. I would like to order more this year to complete at least a classroom set of 30, but now our technology director is fighting ipad purchases. She said the county wants to go with devices more easily traced and maintained. My ipad devices are maintained by me, so they can’t get any easier for her to deal with. All I had my technology specialist do is set them up and be sure the wifi was put on and linked to our wireless system. I do understand that the devices are uniquely made for individual use and personalization, but you can’t get devices any easier for image searches and quick reference information. My art students primarily use the to search images to assist them in their art making. I love that they are responsible for finding what they want and deciding the best way to integrate their ideas into their artwork. I may have to write a letter to try and plead my case for the devices.
I also agree that mobile devices are blessings in disguise. I allow students to use their own devices for research, which provides more flexibility with dispensing the ipads to students who do not have their own research tool. I will also point out that students are familiar with THEIR own devices and can easily use them quickly and efficiently to obtain the pictures and answers they seek. Students utilize apps on my ipads as well as download a few on their devices to use in my class. These tools are very easy to use and helpful to complete their learning development on certain assignments. I also want to mention that expectations should be well thought out and presented to students prior to allowing them this type of freedom.
I enjoyed reading your reflections for Module 1. I enjoy reading ones I agree with and getting extra ammo for my arguments to my district directors, so thank you for your valuable input, keep it up!
Laura,
ReplyDeleteExcellent response to Sean. In my county, we now have to submit our proposals (to purchase technology tools) to a District Level Curriculum Committee. I wrote a grant to purchase 20 Kindle Fire devices - maintained by me:) I don't need the District to maintain the devices. Like your District, it's about being traced and using wifi. We need to continue pushing and advocating for tools that are applicable to each unique school and learning environment. Writing grants and being able to make choices as an educator for our classrooms provides autonomy and promotes leadership.
Sean,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the thorough and insightful post. I'd like to address your thoughts on Professional Development. I agree with your comment, "All of the latest and greatest technology is useless if no one knows how to use it. Professional development time and resources to support effective classroom implementation of the technology is a top priority". As an instructional coach, this is my responsibility. However, there are many factors that contribute to professional learning. Currently in my school, it is "time". Time to support technology trailblazers and encourage them to help others. According to Borthwick and Pierson (2008), In many schools, the process of building trust, promoting collaboration, and encouraging professionalism is not at the top of the list. The inescapable reality of high-stakes testing has altered the climate of our schools and our classrooms and placed a national focus on assessment results (p.39). I am pushing and promoting learning communities in my school, Sean, and trying to help teachers see themselves as experts and capable of supporting and coaching each other. I don’t want teachers to lose sight of their abilities to make decisions due to the required prescribed initiatives/programs.
Borthwick, A., & Pierson, M. (2008). Transforming classroom practice: Professional Development Strategies in Educational Technology. Eugene, OR: ISTE.
Sean,
ReplyDeleteYou might like this article - Minecraft
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/08/19/minecraft-fueling-creative-ideas-analytical-thinking-in.html?cmp=soc-tw-shr
Sean,
ReplyDeleteDare I say, I see a trend of what guidelines Principals should be following to implement change, because I picked the same two you have, but in reverse order. I also like the ideas you present in the gaming paragraph. I like games and I'm not sure I know anyone that doesn't (although I will concede that FLOW has direct bearing on whether you like all games) and can see how games or gaming can become a very good learning tool with a built in assessment. Knowing that you can only advance once certain criteria has been met... or should I say, mastery??? Good games allow for a longer periods of learning and exploration as levels become harder to master (more FLOW), while others are more intactive and may require collaboration for leveling up... I, like you, can see great possibilities in integrating gaming. Thanks for sharing a well thought out and well written post!!!
Sean,
ReplyDeleteI never thought about funding as having an impact on technology leadership but that is something that is very true. A lot of schools only receive so much money and never have enough to make advancements in the technology section. For the guidelines for principals I chose the same one as you with the professional development time. How are teachers supposed to know what to do with new technology when they aren't getting any training or background knowledge on it. This year teachers didn't even have any time to work on their classrooms because of basic meetings that everyone had to be present in. Thank you for participating and sharing your thoughts. I enjoyed reading your post.
Sean,
ReplyDeleteThe example of teacher leadership that you mention, a group of teachers bringing in the Innovation Zone to North Marion High School, is a great example! It allows teachers to collaboratively teach their subject with another that closely relates. I had the opportunity to substitute teach in two of these of classes at NMHS. One of them was English/History. The freshman students were reading The Giver and deciding if they would want to live in a fictitious society, like that in the book, where they were told what to be, how to act, and forced to live by a strict set of rules in return for lifelong protection, including housing, food, medical needs, educational needs, etc. It was interesting to see how the students researched real past societies and made connections with this book and the history of them. I also definitely agree that the most challenging aspect is funding! There seems to never be enough money.