Effective Leadership when Integrating Technology
The ability to effectively use educational technologies in teaching is becoming an increasingly important skill for teachers to possess. Leadership needs to present a comprehensive set of strategies for principals and school administrators to utilize for the management of professional development related to technology integration. Technologies can provide powerful tools for student learning, but their value depends upon how effectively teachers use them to support instruction. Too many times educational leaders assume that all new teachers have graduated from teacher education programs with the knowledge and skills that will allow them to integrate technology easily and effectively into their daily teaching. Many do. Nonetheless, far too many teacher candidates graduate without adequate exposure to, or experience with, effective teaching with technology. Then there is the veteran teacher who has little to no training in technology and the training that has been provided is less than adequate. The introduction of educational technologies in schools has created a need for professional development that provides educators with the skills and knowledge necessary to make the most of technology investments.
Even the best of teacher education programs need to continually review and renew their programs to ensure they are responsive to changing expectations for teachers and to make sure the programs take advantage of the opportunities offered by ever more powerful technologies for teaching and learning. Without a strong foundation in the knowledge and skills for using technology effectively, teacher candidates entering today’s schools will fall short of meeting the needs of the students to prepare them for a technology-savvy world. It is apparent to me that professional development has not kept pace with school technology hardware expenditures and all the changes. Instructional leaders need to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to successfully guide their staff’s professional development related to educational technology.
Without the funding for technology-related professional development, it will be difficult to implement the proper training for teachers. Appropriate funding and professional development represents the key means of supporting equitable access and use of technology to ensure technology literacy and to support meaningful learning for all educational leaders, teachers, and students. Without knowledgeable teachers, money spent on new technologies can easily go to waste. Professional development must be focused on instruction and how the use of technology will make learning more effective in the classroom. One-day workshops have not proven to be effective methods to provide technology-related professional development. If technology is going to be used effectively by teachers, they themselves needed to take responsibility for its implementation in terms of when it benefits the instruction.
Technology integration is always changing because, as new technologies are developed, the ideas of what students will need in order to be successful in the digital age change as well. Integration of technology does not happen overnight. Leadership and teachers need to have the opportunity to model the technology, monitor progress, look for signs of motivation, and chart assessments which can take can take years to see if the technology has effects on learning.