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.
Technology in education does have some obstacles, but I believe that when it is incorporated into the curriculum correctly it can be of great value.
ReplyDeleteGreat point about a leadership style not being wrong just because it isn't how you would do it. This is something we would do well to remember in all walks of life.
ReplyDeleteJoe Greene
Chris,
ReplyDeleteI agree technology is great it just needs to be used correctly.
Joe,
ReplyDeleteI agree it is something that we should remember everyday!
Hello Jordan,
ReplyDeleteI think the title of the book alone throws me for a loop-Educational Leadership and Planning for Technology. I've spent many years studying leadership and by no means would I consider myself an expert, but I still do not see how the two connect. Maybe after the course I will. From a distant perspective (of mine) I can see some relation because as a leader you should be well-versed in the leading edge of technology. At what year of school do we start to focus on technology for the children? When I went to school we did not have computer science until the 9th grade, yet some of my friends are working (very successfully) in the IT world. With so many changes, what you teach a 1st grader now will most likely be obsolete when they graduate.
I know of a school that has a full time It person on staff. They spend most of the time fixing smart boards and setting computers up, but what if they harnessed his knowledge to the students? I think he might work himself out of a job.