Principals as a Technology Leader

Principals as a Technology Leader

Deanna Stefanyshyn EDST 550 University of British Columbia July 24, 2012

Principals as a Technology Leader Introduction The abundance of literature on the ever expanding role of the principal is an indication of how the position has evolved over the last century, if not decade. While exact responsibilities may differ among school districts, it is clear that principals need to be able to juggle the demands of maintaining a building while also creating relationships with students and staff, and providing instructional leadership. One area that has become a topic of discussion, not only among education officials, but also in the media, is the

development of 21st century skills among students. With this brings a need for technology in the school setting to ensure students are developing the competences that will reinforce their abilities to become contributing members of society. However, with the rate that technology is currently evolving and changing, there appears to be some blurred lines between who is responsible for obtaining, implementing, and maintaining the tools within the school setting. With education seemingly at the forefront of cutbacks this responsibility is emerging as a task that fits within the portfolio of the principal. Therefore the purpose of this paper is to discuss how the role of the principal has grown to include some aspect of technology management. Furthermore, with all the responsibilities that principals now take on, obvious questions emerge. Principals want to know what this new technology role looks like and how they might effectively manage it along with all their other undertakings. I should note that since school districts operate in slightly different ways, in order to provide some important pieces of literature, my focus will be on the Vancouver School Board and the British Columbia (B.C.) Ministry of Education.

Principals as a Technology Leader Current roles of Principals

Through consultation of many studies Lytle (2012) suggests that principals engage in the following in order to improve student achievement: Establish and maintain a safe, orderly school climate where things operate smoothly; Focus on parent and community support and engagement; Provide instructional guidance, including an aligned and enriched curriculum, instructional guidance, and academic press; Establish and build trust with teachers, students, parents, and the community; Read, interpret, and respect context (a schools demographic, historical, political, and cultural characteristics; Redesign or structure the school organization so that priorities are consistently addressed; Distribute leadership and approach leadership as a collective responsibility for teachers and parents; Encourage the use of data and research; Develop people; and Allocate resources (people, time, money, space) in relationship to priorities.

Lytle makes it clear that these skills cannot simply be learned in an intensive training program or graduate courses. In order to effectively lead schools one must appreciate that it takes time, reflection, coaching, and seasoning. Furthermore, research suggests that in order for a principal to demonstrate effective change in a school they should remain in the same school for between 5 and 7 years (The Wallace Foundation, 2012). Therefore

Principals as a Technology Leader principals are given the task of leading a school and initiating change to reflect greater student achievement and then are moved and asked to do it all over again. While some

principals may thrive in this kind of environment, others, that may be exceptional leaders, could possibly find the tasks too daunting and move onto a new career paths. More specifically, studies done by The Wallace Foundation in 2012 suggest that effective principals perform 5 key functions: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Shaping a vision of academic success for all students. Creating a climate hospitable to education. Cultivating leadership in others. Improving instruction. Managing people, data and processes to foster school improvement.

What is clear is that the role of principal is not a concrete idea with well-established responsibilities. The tasks involved seem to be fluid and changing depending on the demands of the staff, students, community, and society.

What does a 21st century learner look like? The B.C. Ministry of Education (2011) describes 21st Century Learning as an ideal where: students use educational technologies to apply knowledge to new situations, analyze information, collaborate, solve problems, and make decisions. Utilizing emerging technologies to provide expanded learning opportunities is critical to the success of future generations.

Principals as a Technology Leader

Furthermore the Premiers Technology Council Report in December of 2010 sets out to describe what a transformation in the educational system might look like. They describe the needs of a new knowledge-based society as one that: traditional skills like literacy, numeracy, and critical thinking need to be applied in different ways and supplemented with new skills and attributes in order for students to become full participants in a knowledge-based society. Finally a new plan has been developed by the B.C. government called the B.C. Education Plan (2011). This new way of educating students through personalized learning has created controversy among educators. While the plan appears to be a huge leap forward as it calls for more individual based learning, there is a lack of framework and policy on how technology may be acquired and maintained and how training would be established for administration and teachers to implement such plan. What is clear from current literature on the B.C. Ministry of Education website and in the media is that technology needs to be not only visible in schools but also utilized in a way that is beneficial to learners. Google recently posted sample interview questions that clearly demonstrate how the requirement of workers has shifted from merely working hard to being able to problem solve and think outside the box. Some sample questions include: 1) You have two identical eggs. Standing in front of a 100 floor building, you wonder what is the maximum number of floors from which the egg can be dropped without breaking it.? What is the minimum number of tries needed to find out the solution?

Principals as a Technology Leader

2) In a country where everyone wants a boy, each family continues having babies till they have a boy. After some time, what is the proportion of boys to girls in the country? (Assuming probability of having a boy or a girl is the same) (Carlson 2011) These questions are on top of the more specific technology questions that directly relate to skills needed to be effective in the job. Furthermore, the top 10 in demand jobs in 2010 did not even exist in 2004. Educators are being challenged to prepare students for jobs that have not yet been created, using technologies that dont yet exist, solving problems that we dont even know we have yet. Fisch, K. (2009). If this is a challenge for educators, then clearly the principal needs to be a leader in this field to ensure the students are receiving these 21st century skills.

How can a principal be a technology leader? Current research suggests that principals need to obtain a threshold of expertise in technology leadership including: a) becoming familiar with various technology devices and their affordances; b) being able to effectively use the technology; c) understanding how technology can be applied to teaching and learning; and d) promoting technology as a user, collaborator, and facilitator (Brockmeier, Sermon, Hope 2005). In order to obtain this expertise Dawson and Rakes (2003) found that the amount of technology training received was directly related to the level of technology integration. For example, the schools whose principals were offered between 13 and 25 hours of technology training reported more technology integration than the schools whose

Principals as a Technology Leader principals were offered less than 13 hours of training. According to the researchers, this result supports those who argue that long-term training is worth the effort and expense. More data analysis indicated that the school principals who received training on how to

integrate technology into the curriculum were found to lead schools with higher levels of technology integration in the curricula than the school principals who received any of the other types of training. Also, principals who received customized training lead schools with higher levels of technology integration than those receiving basic technology tools and applications training or those receiving basic technology tools and applications with Internet fundamentals. Furthermore, in addition to training, Banoglu (2011) found that Principals needed to demonstrate strong technology leadership and commitment to technology or else they negatively influenced technology-integration. Even in a school where there was an appointed technology coordinator, there was no effective change due to the empowerment shown by the principal. This is an important finding because in school districts in B.C. there are generally no specific technology coordinators. It is up to the principals and teachers to ensure the needs of the students are being met and to determine in what capacity technology is integrated. It appears that even with a strong knowledge base and motivation of staff members (be it teachers or other staff), it is ultimately up to the Principal to decide the level of technology that will be used in a school. Keeping in mind the funding associated with training to obtain the level of expertise required, Gosmire and Grady (2007) argue that Principals do not need to be technology experts, they merely have to be informed and ask the right questions.

Principals as a Technology Leader

Considering the fact that the cost of technology has risen 300% during the last 3 decades, they propose 10 questions that principals should ask themselves: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) What are the technology trends I need to know about? What does the research say about schools and technology? What do I need to know about technology to move my school forward? Are there guidelines to help me? How do I construct a safety need for technology in the school? How do I know I have created effective policies and plans? How do I promote the integration of technology in the classroom? How much will all of this cost and where do I get the funds? How do I work with technology experts? How will I measure success?

In an ideal world, principals would be given sustained training with a focus on integrating technology into the curriculum while continuing to meet the needs of the students. However this is not always possible, and therefore answering the guiding questions set forth by Gosmire and Grady offer principals an entry point into integrating technology into their schools. Rivard (2010) suggests that administrators can play an even more important role in determining how well technology is used in schools by, not only taking a leadership role in using technology effectively and efficiently, but by embracing the use of technology in their own professional lives. Finally, acknowledging the influence a school principal could have on the integration of technology in his/her school, researchers are currently calling on school

Principals as a Technology Leader superintendents to encourage and support principals in becoming more involved with technology initiatives at the school and district levels (Rivard, 2010).

Conclusion: Principals have a great responsibility in ensuring that the needs of students, staff, parents, communities, and the actual structure of the school building, are met. As technology becomes a more permanent fixture in our everyday lives, the ability to keep up with the demands and changes brings its own set of challenges. It is clear that the best case scenario is to afford the principals with training in order to provide the leadership required to ensure technology integration is part of the overall vision of the school. If this is not available, principals can still demonstrate their own commitment to technology through embracing it in their own personal and academic lives, as well as asking key questions surrounding incorporating new educational tools. With all that is required of principals it is clear that having a staff that also shares the vision of a 21st century learner can only increase the chance that the school will succeed in the ultimate goal of creating well informed, successful members of society.

Principals as a Technology Leader References

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Banoglu K.. (2011). School principals' technology leadership competency and technology coordinatorship. Kuram Ve Uygulamada Egitim Bilimleri, 11(1), 208-213. B.C. Ministry of Education (2011). 21st Century Learning. B.C. Ministry of Education. Retrieved July 16, 2012, from http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/dist_learning/21century_learning.htm B.C. Ministry of Education (2011). Retrieved July 16, 2012 from http://www.bcedplan.ca/ Brockmeier, L. L., Sermon, J. M., & Hope, W. C. (2005). Principals' relationship with computer technology. NASSP Bulletin, 89(643), 45-57. Carlson, N. (2011). 15 BANNED Google Interview Questions That Will Make You Feel Stupid. Business Insder. Retrieved July 16, 2012, from http://www.businessinsider.com/15-banned-google-interview-questions-that-will-makeyou-feel-stupid-2011-11?op=1 Dawson C., Rakes G. C.. (2003). The influence of principals' technology training on the integration of technology into schools. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 36(1), 29. Gosmire D., Grady M. L. (2007). A bumpy ROAD: PRINCIPAL AS technology leader. Principal Leadership, 7(6), 17. Fisch, K. (Producer) (2009). Did you know? Shift happens. Available from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBwT_09boxE&feature=player_detailpage Lytle, J. H. (2012). Where is leadership heading? Phi Delta Kappan, 93(8), 54-57. Premier's Technology Council (2010, December). A Vision for 21st Century Education. Retrieved July 16, 2012, from http://www.gov.bc.ca/premier/attachments/PTC_vision%20for_education.pdf Rivard, L. R. (2010). Enhancing education through technology: Principal leadership for technology integration in schools. ProQuest LLC). ProQuest LLC, . The Wallace Foundation (2012). The SCHOOL PRINCIPAL AS LEADER: Guiding Schools to Better. The Wallace Foundation. Retrieved July 16, 2012, from http://www.wallacefoundation.org/knowledge-center/school-leadership/effective principal-leadership/Pages/The-School-Principal-as-Leader-Guiding-Schools-to-Better Teaching-and-Learning.aspx