The Leadership Role in Making the Technology Connection

Imagine this: At the end of a busy school day, you remember that you have a report to present to the board of school trustees tomorrow. problem is, you have not gathered the information yet and do not have the traditional types of resources available at hand to complete the report. No problem! Using your computer, you call the state department of education computer and download any relevant information for the report. Then you log on to the Internet, where you find additional information. You save this so that you can use it at home later that night to develop your report. At home, you use all of the information you have gathered to develop the presentation for the board tomorrow. Maybe this is not how you presently develop presentations, but this is a model that must prepare ourselves, staff and students to use in order to be successful in the future. Setting the Stage Technology presents new opportunities to change how function, and leaders need to model the use of technology to change and improve the environment in which educators function. As plan for technology in our school districts, must keep two issues in mind: * Technology has the potential to change how work, teach, and learn in our school districts, and * This potential will only be realized if leaders assume the lead role in realizing this potential. In April 1995, the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) released an extensive survey to the U.S. Senate that addressed the issue of how technology should change and improve education. report, Teachers and Technology: Making the Connection had a central theme: we will never effectively realize the potential of technology to change education unless address the issue of involving our staff in the use of technology.[1] If are going to effectively address this concern, then must reconsider our leadership role in promoting and defining the use of technology by our staff. Research consistently finds that leadership is a key to successful implementation of technology. For example, Mergendoller (1994) states: The role of the principal is crucial in promoting school technology use. Similarly, for technology to become diffused across a district, leadership by the central administration, especially the superintendent, is critical. These findings are supported by the organizational change research, which has consistently found that change efforts do not succeed without active administrative leadership, particularly by principals. Research has shown that leaders perform four important tasks: (a) obtaining resources, and Creating Standards. (b) buffering the project from outside interference, (c) encouraging staff, and (d) adapting standard operating procedures to the project.[2] As educational leaders, need to provide leadership in addressing the necessary issues to realize the potential of technology. Leadership issues can be narrowed to the following five topics: Creating a Vision, Monitoring Influence, Funding, Involving Staff, ans Creating Standards. Creating a Vision Technology will never provide the changes in education that it should until create a local vision of how technology should impact how work, teach and ream. key is to develop a vision for technology in our school buildings and districts that will take our individual vision of how technology should influence what do and making it a shared vision with others. importance of creating this shared vision cannot be underestimated. If do not have a mutual vision of where technology will take us, then it will be difficult to set priorities, to know where are headed, and to know when have achieved what are trying to accomplish. From Individual Vision to Shared Through a partnership with our local telecommunications provider, Ameritech, were able to expand our vision for the use of technology to include the following -- productivity, communications, and learning. …