Leadership
Leadership is extremely important to a functioning society. I loved how the first book The Technology Director’s Guide to leadership, in chapter 1 tells a story about a quest for leadership skills. Max is trying to find out how to be a great leader. He decides to take a class about leadership. Max goes to three professors in search of leadership knowledge. The first professor disappoints him. The second professor disappoints him even more. The third he likes and makes him realize that it is important to learn from everything around you. Also, that just because you don’t think it is the right way it doesn’t mean that it is the wrong way. It is also an important characteristic of a leader to ask questions and seek the answers.
Educational Leadership and Planning for Technology was a little harder to read. It is more facts and statistics than a story. It has a lot of great information and statistics that I did not know. It really helps put in perspective issues with technology.
Chapter 1
Technology in education needs to have a purpose. It also needs to be integrated into all aspects of the school. Technology in school is constantly changing. It is expensive but necessary to keep up. Unfortunately, it is hard for schools to keep up with the changing technology. Technology in education can be divided in to Administrative and Educational. Administrational progresses much more quickly. Educational technology is being invested in by school but is still having issues with implementation and teaching philosophies. It is important for the school systems to understand the cost of having technology in their school system. It is not just an initial cost but ongoing cost that can be just as expensive.
Chapter 2
It is important for the schools systems to plan for technology. It is important that parents, teachers and school staff participate in the planning steps. There are many different software applications for different needs. So specific goals and objective can be made with technology. Organization is one of the most important things when it comes to technology. Even the most advanced educational technology will fail a school system with out organization.
Picciano, A. G. (2011).Educational leadership and planning for technology (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson.
Hall, D. (2008). The technology director's guide to leadership the power of great questions. Eugene, Or.: International Society for Technology in Education.
