The Technological Knowledge Gap: What Schools Leaders Need to Know
January 31, 2008
The Technological Knowledge Gap: What Schools Leaders Need to Know
Michelle Davis (Moderator):
Welcome to today’s online chat, a follow-up to a story in the most recent issue of Education Week’s Digital Directions about the technological knowledge gap that exists among school leaders. Following the chat, I’d encourage you to go to www.digitaldirections.org to read the story. We have a lot of good questions waiting to be answered so let’s get the discussion started.
Question from Jon Becker, assistant professor, Virginia Commonwealth University:
How do we convince sitting school administrators that they need to change or pay attention without sounding preachy or condescending?
Keith R. Krueger:
First, I think we ask administrators what issues “keep them up at night”. How is the world changing and how is their job as a school administrator changing. That is how CoSN believes we have to start the conversation. It has to be relevant to real concerns. Second, it cannot be “technology” advocates over-hyping the situation and telling administrators they need to change. Administrators need to hear from their peers about what has worked for them and why they should care. NOTE: As the Metiri Group found when looking at research on impact of tech in education, we (the ed tech community) has too often “over-promised” what will happen with technology. http://www.cisco.com/web/strategy/docs/education/
TechnologyinSchoolsReport.pdf They also found that with appropriate vision and adequate professional development, technology can be a powerful, transformative tool. Third, we need to get the professional associations of administrators (principal and supts) at state and national level leading this conversation. I think that many of those associations have not known how to have this conversation. CoSN is thinking about how to help start a conversation between school administrators who are not primarily responsible for technology but critical for making technology use in education transformative.
Question from Kurt Steinhaus, Past-President, International Society for Technlogy in Education:
Where are the best online learning sites and what are the most appropriate “courses” for Superintendents to learn about technology in education?
Scott McLeod:
I’m not quite sure what you mean by the best online learning sites. When I was at the University of Minnesota, we had a series of graduate level technology leadership courses that educators all across the country took. We will get those up and running again here at Iowa State University. They will all be online and available to anyone across the globe. There are a few other universities that are working hard to help school administrators understand these technological revolutions. If you go to the CASTLE website and click on higher education, you can see who we have been working with. Drop me an e-mail - mcleod@iastate.edu - for more specific information on this issue (i.e. course options).
Question from Frank J. Hagen, Adjunct Professor - Wilmington University:
As schools utilize more computers as learning tools for students and teachers such as the many 1:1 computer laptop initiatives, how will this impact the primary observation/evaluation responsibilities of a building principal for school improvement?
Keith R. Krueger:
If you are specifically asking about role of principal in the future, I would suggest checking out the work the National Assn. of Elementary School Principals is doing...I believe it is called Vision 2020. You can find this at www.vision2021.org. They have a variety of scenarios and technology has a huge role in the change that will come in schools. Even in the “most conservative” scenarios, education will fundamentally change in the near term future looking ten years out. The critical role of the principal in successful use of technology is very clear. Research from around the world (Hong Kong, Singapore, UK, and the US) clearly demonstrates that technology only succeeds when the building leader (e.g. - principal) embraces it. Otherwise the technology is not scalable or sustainable. CoSN has recently done some interesting work comparing highly technology-intensive schools in U.S. vs. Australia vs. Britain. In all cases the role of the principal/headmaster was critical. HOWEVER, we also found that the principal did NOT need to the expert. The role of setting the vision rests with the principal, but even in highly tech-intensive sites, they are not the expert. That research will be highlighted at our upcoming annual conference through our Calculating the Value of Investing (VoI) initiative. www.edtechvoi.org website explains the concept. Conference information is at www.k12schoolnetworking.org
Question from Thomas J. Costello - Science Supervisor - High Point Regional High School:
Is a small cohort of teachers a good place to start the technological revolution in our school?
Scott McLeod:
It’s as good a place to start as any. Teachers never listen to anyone besides each other anyway [wink]. I’d try get at least one administrator type on board so they can see what neat stuff is occurring. Try to set up some regular sharing sessions to spark others’ thinking about the power and potential of some of these tools. Models and examples are going to be critically important.
Question from Frank J. Hagen, Adjunct Professor - Wilmington University:
Given all that is currently on the plate of the building principal as the “instructional leader"(IL)and “lead learner"(LL) in a school, what type of professional development is necessary for the principal to now become the “chief digital officer"(CDO)of a school to successfully prepare students for the 21st Century?
Keith R. Krueger:
Before we get to professional development, lets define what are the “essential skills” of administrators that we want them to know. CoSN, in partnership with ISTE, NSBA, and others, created the Technology Standards for School Administrators a number of years ago. http://www.ncrtec.org/pd/tssa/tssa.pdf (NOTE: ISTE has rebranded these as NETS-A, but content is same) These are specifically the skills we believe that principals and superintendents, and other district education admininstrators who are not in charge of technology need to know. I think the challenge we face is that if principals and superintendents are told this is “one more thing to do”, it will not happen. And, frankly, the education technology community has failed in thinking that principals, superintendents and other administrators will come to us to learn this new competency. Too often, PD has spoken to these key education leaders as if they are the technology leader...they are not. For that reason, CoSN is currently working on a forthcoming initiative for superintendents called “Empowering the 21st Century Superintendent” (preview at CoSN annual conf in March, and released March 31st at NSBA annual in Orlando). In order to understand the challenges faced by superintendents and to develop targeted support services, CoSN has engaged in multiple conversations with superintendents across the country to understand the current landscape and issues around the use of technology in schools today. Some of these superintendents came to their current job after serving in technology leadership positions; others describe themselves as “non-techies” who came more recently to their understanding of the importance of technology in education. It is interesting to note that the common belief shared by the superintendents we interviewed is similar to the findings of the 2007 Education Week’s “Technology Counts” report – that technology can help the mission and business of education but that school systems, for the most part, are not where they need to be with almost every aspect of technology utilization. As a result of the interviews and discussions with superintendents, five key themes emerged that highlight the role technology can play in education, school improvement and professional development. The superintendents we spoke with generally agreed that technology can: • Strengthen District Leadership and Communications; • Transform Pedagogy with Compelling Learning Environments; • Raise the Bar with 21st Century Skills; • Support Professional Development and Communities of Practice; • Create Balanced Assessments. I believe that if we focus on these “educational” (not technology) challenges, we can get the attention of principals and superintendents, and work with their professional associations at state and national level to start a new conversation.
Question from Tracy Standhart, teacher, Schenectady City School District, NY:
Scott, your information is extremely valuable. How can we let people in administrative and leadership positions know what they don’t know?
Scott McLeod:
I think we have to create some cognitive dissonance using videos, reports, etc. that highlight the gaps between where schools are and where schools need to be. See the videos and handouts section of our Moving Forward wiki: http://movingforward.wikispaces.com. Videos like Did You Know? 2.0 and others help with this. Also check out the materials from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. They have a lot of great information that can be helpful. Once we create some cognitive dissonance, then we have to help them understand how technology can help close the dissonance and close those gaps. It’s not the solution for every problem that schools face. But it has to be a key part of the overall solution rather than marginalized or optional like it is now.if you go to my blog, dangerously irrelevant, and click on the top post button on the right, you’ll also find material that should be helpful to you.
Question from Amy Jaramillo, Teacher, Truth or Consequences Middle School:
How much should a school leader know? Hardware, networking, software, educational application of specific programs?
Scott McLeod:
I don’t think that administrators have to be very hardware or software savvy to be effective technology leaders. That said, I do think there’s a role for administrators to be role models for their teaching staff. Walking the walk is more effective than simply talking the talk. Of course, often I’d settle for just talking the talk. Since in many places we don’t even have that. I often advocate that principals and superintendents model lifelong learning by taking on a new technology tool and visibly struggling with and succeeding with that to their staff.
Question from Laurie Sanders-MacVittie, Program Manager for Learning Resources, CABOCES, New York:
I love the question in your article that challenges us to ask, “What does it (technology) enable us to do that we couldn’t do before?”. I believe the answer to that is simple in education. The delivery of instruction can change from being teacher centered to being student centered. I could go on, but my question is this: How can we help teachers and school leaders understand that student-centered learning is more meaningful for the student and more relevent in our society today?
Keith R. Krueger:
Great question. First, I think as educators we need to ask “who are our customers?”...a question many educators hate. While schools have many “customers” (parents, community, business, etc.), fundamentally the core audience is the student. If we focus on the student, we need to look at what they need to succeed in a highly competitive world. What skills do they need? What kind of educational environment will enable them to be prepared for the future? I also think educators and policymakers need think about what is the most powerful things that technology enables in a learning environment. You call it student-centered. I would say it is enabling a personalized learning (which, of course, is student-centered). Great teaching has always been about pushing each child to their greatest ability. But, when you are standing before 20, or 25 or 30+ students, you have to “teach to the average”. How can we use technology to enable the teacher and the learning to help each child to move at their best pace. For example, kids generally love computer games. Those games don’t get easier as the kid accomplishs something...in fact, as soon as you reach that level it takes to you to next harder level. How can we do that in a learning enviroment so that we are pushing each kid on to things they don’t know and encouraging them to higher order thinking? Technology has transformed every other industry sector...but education lags. In a study by the U.,S. Depart of Commerce about 3 years ago, they ranked 55 industry sectors by “IT-intensiveness” (Digital Economy 2003). Guess what, education was rock-bottom at number 55. Education is LESS technology intensive than coal mining! Next time your school board or the media or cynics ask why “technology hasn’t changed anything in education”, refer them to this study. Yes, we schools are spending more on technology than a decade ago, but proportionately it is lagging behind every other sector.
Question from Victoria Pilotti, Secondary Schools Mentor, NYCDOE:
At the school level, are principals willing to hire a full-time technology expert to be available to install technology and troubleshoot and support staff when systems fail? I observed more effective and widespread use of technology in schools with staff who had exclusive tech support duties in contrast with staff who taught part of the time.
Scott McLeod:
Support options very widely. Like I’m guessing that you do, I wish that more schools had full-time tech support, not only for keeping the boxes up and running but also regarding technology integration. We see much better technology usage from teachers when they can count on ongoing, just-in-time integration support.
Question from Steve:
How does the education system get educational leaders to focus their energy on what they need to do to improve rather than focusing their energy on how teachers need to improve?
Scott McLeod:
I’m not sure it does. School administrators are tugged in a number of different dirrections both within their organizations and from outside constituencies. It’s very difficult for an educational leader, whether it be a principal or superintendent, to have a sustained focus on self-improvement and on school improvement rather than on crisis management and reactive action.
Question from Jennette Kane, Technology Integration Supervisor, Orange City Schools:
I agree that Superintendents should have a good understanding of how technology can impact the instructional process but maybe another question to consider is what about hiring more technology coordinators who have an educational background?
Keith R. Krueger:
I think the role of a Chief Technology Office in a school district (which I define more broadly than tech coordinator) is where I believe supts should be thinking about if they want to powerfully use technology. CoSN has laid out this vision called The Highly Qualified CTO which includes an overview of standards, education and support for district technology leaders. A free Executive Summar is a http://www.cosn.org/resources/compendium/2007Summaries/
thehighlyqualifiedCTO.pdf and the full document can be purchased at https://my.cosn.org/mycosn/store/?storecat=2007%20Compendium I think there has been a false dichotomy in most school districts which pits Administrative vs. Instructional technology. In fact, most businesses, hospitals, universities and other leaders don’t make this sort of biforcation. You are right that we need technology leaders who understand teaching and learning. But, they also need and understanding of how we make the entire enterprise of education to work better. That means a horizontal view of technology -- technology is not “one more department”, but should be seen as a cross-cutting enabler for everything the district is trying to accomplish. This vision requires new skills and new sorts of leaders at the cabinet level of our districts.
Question from Lee Allen, Asst. Prof., Univ. of Memphis:
As a former district technology administrator, I saw the compartmentalization of “instructional technology” as the biggest obstacle to allowing students to truly utilize 21st century tools and skills. What will it take for Curriculum & Instruction divisions in school districts to simply incorporate technology in the implementation of ALL aspects of the curriculum, and train teachers accordingly? Of course, teacher preparation programs should do the same.
Scott McLeod:
1. Getting the leadership on board that this is important. 2. A radical shift in the basic educational paradigm - what is school all about 3. Academia is more resistant than K-12. Good luck. Don’t hold your breath for any of these in the near future. What will cause these to happen is public outrage and pressure on school boards and policymakers that their children aren’t being adequately prepared for the digital, global economy. That groundswell hasn’t occurred yet but we need to keep feeding it so that it eventually does. One of the best things you can do: show the Did You Know? 2.0 video to a bunch of parents and then discuss their reactions to the video and their feelings about their local schools’ preparation effort.
Question from Dale Bendsak Morris County School of Technology:
I believe one way for superintendents and principals to gain knowledge would be to form an advisory council of industry professionals that advise them of skills needed by students and trends in the global workplace. What do you think of this idea?
Keith R. Krueger:
I think it is a great idea, and (in fact) the research proves it. In 2004 CoSN surveyed technology leaders and found that 2/3rds of districts had flat or declining technology budgets. http://www.cosn.org/resources/grunwald/index.cfm When we disaggretated the data between the majority of districts with flat/declining budgets for tech vs. those with increasing tech budgets, there were two key differences: 1) Vision/Leadership -- those with increasing budgets could clearly articulate what they want to accomplish with tech that impacts their mission. Their supt and school board were setting a vision. 2) Community Involvement - districts where the community is supportive and involved in setting tech priorities in educatation reported much higher budgets. Anecdotally I can also tell you that when the CTO/district technology leader gets the local Chamber of Commerce or Kiwana’s involved in tech planning, the Supt. and School Board support the budget. Having the business community make the recommendation for school tech budget is the best way to get new resources. I strongly encourage tech advocates to have kids do a presentation to the school board or chamber of commerce or even PTO’s. Let them tell the adults how important tech is to there life and ask them to compare how it is used in-school vs. out-of-school. Trust me, you will get the resources if you mobilize kids and the community (business, parents).
Question from Trisha Kniskern, Coordinator of Instructional Technology, Loveland Schools, Ohio:
Can you please share some examples of school administrators who are using technology to optimize teaching and learning in their districts/schools?
Scott McLeod:
Hi, Trisha! Hope all is well in Loveland! (Trisha is one of my former students in the School Technology Leadership program; it’s like Old Home Week around here!) There are all of the usual suspects: Plano, TX; Lemon Grove, CA; Henrico County, VA. They’re the ones that get written up repeatedly because they’re ALWAYS on the cutting edge. Although they’d be the first to admit that they still struggle, they seem to have figured this out for the most part. eSchoolNews’ annual list of Tech-Savvy Superintendents is a good place to find powerful leadership occurring. Of course, the ongoing stories in Education Week and its new publication, Digital Directions (nod to our chat sponsor!), about technology are good places to find pockets of innovation, as are various reports from CoSN, ISTE, and SETDA. Converge and T.H.E. Journal and other magazines of this ilk are often where I find stories about interesting activity that’s occurring. Plus there’s the edublogosphere!
Question from Gayle Cole, Center for Early Education, Instructional Technology Facilitator:
Do you think there is a new administrative role emerging? I am thinking of independent schools / private schools and the role of someone who wants to lead in terms of technology but does necessarily want to be a head of a school. It seems like a technology director would be an important administrative role to add to the mix?
Keith R. Krueger:
Yes, absolutely. At the building level, we see more and more use (in successful technology-rich environments) of instructional technology leaders. Often this is a 1/2 time responsiblity of a teacher to help other teachers. Hopefully this will increasingly be seen as the responsibility of subject department heads. You also need to think about how you provide tech support...essential for teachers/administrators to change the way they do their job. Increasingly, this is done remotely with support lines and centralized networks. And, you need leaders (principals, superintendents) who have a vision and lend their cheer-leading role to transforming education. Technology is a natural way of getting to new ways of doing things...hopefully in transformative, not just incremental, ways.
Question from Kim Desotell, Doctoral Student (UW-Milwaukee) and Consultant- Wisconsin:
What is the most effective way to train school principals from the same district when you have varied skill levels ranging from novice to expert all on the same leadership team? Can you offer specific strategies for effective training models for this group of leaders?
Scott McLeod:
Hi Kim, this is a difficult question to answer without knowing more about your desired outcomes from your training. For example, training that’s designed to increase the technology skills base of school leaders will look very different from training that’s designed to increase the technology leadership capacity of administrators. The former focuses more on the technology side of things, the latter focuses more on the leadership and people and organizational side of things. Of course we also have to take into account the unique contexts of each organization, which will have a major impact on the design and flavor of the training. Since I don’t want to avoid your question completely, and so far I’ve done that quite adeptly, I will note that the best starting place is wherever that individual administrator is and working from there. If you have several administrators who are at a similar place, then they can form a community of learners that can work on something together. You don’t want to teach to the middle, nor do you want to teach too high or too low and lose part of the group. You know all this. I’m not telling you anything that’s real helpful here, other than to reiterate that a one-size-fits-all model never works. Good luck!
Question from Dave:
Hi Scott. As a follow-up to Steve’s question; what are higher educational institutions doing to TRAIN their faculty & staff to better handle and/or have the knowledge to prevent such crisis?
Scott McLeod:
Speaking for the teacher and administrator preparation programs in nearly all American universities, little or nothing.
Question from Kathy Schwalbe, Program Manager, All Kinds of Minds:
From the perspectives of our guest speakers, what are some of the key technological skills (and knowledge) our schools leaders need to know and be able to use right now?
Keith R. Krueger:
I previously answered a question about the skills that admininstrators (principals & supts) need. So, I will now focus on the district technology leader/Chief Technology Officer. As you may know, CoSN is the national association of these key technology leaders. For over 15 years we have been building resources around the leadership skills needed by district technology leaders. I hope you will look at CoSN’s Framework of Essential Skills for CTO’s: 1. Leadership and Vision Works closely with the executive cabinet and stakeholders to create a vision for how technology will support the district’s strategic goals. Knowledge or Skills Required: Ability to establish and lead governance committees and facilitate the process of priority-setting and decision-making. Interpersonal skills and a willingness to work closely with all constituents. Ability to adapt known technologies to new uses and envision natural relationships between emerging technology resources and the education process. Big-picture understanding of school organization, of curriculum and of the issues of greatest importance to teaching and learning. Understanding of the change process and effective approaches to facilitating change. 2. Planning and Budgeting Works with the instructional and technical teams to identify the steps needed to meet strategic goals and a budget that takes into account the total cost of implementing technology solutions. Knowledge or Skills Required: Ability to think strategically, manage projects, and lead the district from vision to effective delivery of services. Ability to set practical and realistic timelines for technology implementation. Understanding of the steps and financial tools involved in the budgeting process. Strong working knowledge of the concept of total cost of ownership and the ability to translate that into realistic budgets. Understanding of the impact and need for technology throughout the enterprise - and the relationship between curriculum, instruction and technology in providing a teaching and learning environment. 3. Team Building and Staffing Creates and supports cross-functional teams for decision-making, technology support, professional development, and other aspects of the district’s technology program. Knowledge or Skills Required: Strong leadership skills and the ability to empower others to assume leadership roles. Skills at facilitating team building activities, modeling examples of trust between department members, and utilizing quality improvement tools for decision-making. Ability to identify strengths and weaknesses and make effective hiring decisions. Strong communication skills and a commitment to keeping all parties informed about technology progress and choices. 4. Systems Management Directs, coordinates, and ensures the implementation of all tasks related to: the development of technical specifications and infrastructure decisions; the selection, purchasing, installation and maintenance of IT; and the integration of technology into every facet of operations. Knowledge or Skills Required: Knowledge and expertise about infrastructure and performance standards for all aspects of the IT system. Strong technical background accompanied by a personal commitment to ongoing research and learning. Ability and willingness to hire skilled experts to support and oversee different aspects of the IT program. Ability to make purchasing and implementation decisions based on needs of the total school system - and on an understanding of the full life cycle of technology purchases. 5. Information Management Oversees the establishment and maintenance of systems and tools for gathering, mining, integrating and reporting data in usable and meaningful ways. Knowledge or Skills Required: Understanding of data-driven decision making and the role information needs to play in shaping and supporting a district’s educational programs. Understanding of techniques and tools for data gathering, warehousing, and analysis - including a knowledge of available applications and the options for customizing them or building new tools in-house. Knowledge of data-related industry standards (eg., SIF and SCORM) and of governmental mandates (e.g. NCLB or IDEA) with information reporting requirements. Ability to assess and respond to the needs and concerns of a variety of knowledge workers. 6. Business Leadership Serves as a strong business leader who guides purchasing decisions, assists in determining the “return on investment” for all technology implementations, and fosters good relationships with vendors, potential funders, and other key groups. Knowledge or Skills Required: Comfort managing a budget, making purchasing decisions, and handling the financial aspects of running an IT business. Knowledge about market rates for technology equipment and services and the issues that determine ROI. Ability to direct, manage, and negotiate with vendors and business partners. Strong communication skills, the ability to build partnerships and articulate a vision for the district’s technology program. 7. Education and Training Budgets, plans for and coordinates on-going, purposeful professional development for all staff using new technologies. Knowledge or Skills Required: Current understanding of both technical and educational best practices and the appropriate uses of technology to support high-caliber, rigorous student work. Understanding of the key elements contributing to successful professional development. Awareness of technology-related professional growth needs of all staff members - including administrators and support staff - and the ability to respond to these needs, including providing “just in time” opportunities to remain current on technical content. Ability to plan professional development activities that help teachers meet a wide range of instructional goals for the district with help from interactive technologies. 8. Ethics and Policies Oversees the creation, implementation and enforcement of policies and educational programs related to the social, legal and ethical issues involved in technology use throughout the district. Knowledge or Skills Required: Knowledge about laws and legal issues related to copyright, privacy, filtering and other aspects of school technology use. Awareness of other relevant issues including safety, technology-related health concerns and guidelines for fair and ethical implementation of technology. Experience with AUP development and enforcement. Commitment to modeling responsible technology use and working closely with all constituents. 9. Communication Systems Directs and coordinates the use of e-mail, district web sites, voicemail systems and other forms of communication technology to facilitate decision-making, dialog and effective communication with the community and other key stakeholders. Knowledge or Skills Required: Working knowledge of various communication tools - including purchasing options and technical issues related to implementation. Understanding of web design and support issues and the staffing needed to keep district and school sites updated and operational. Knowledge about converging technologies and new options for enhancing communication through technology. Strong communication skills and the ability to provide leadership to stakeholders in the utilization of communication resources. http://www.cosn.org/resources/cto_council/framework.cfm A great way to get PD around the above skills is to join CoSN www.cosn.org and attend our annual conference www.k12schoolnetworking.org
Question from Cindi, Administrator, Washington DC:
I have been noticing a rise in schools providing virtual curriculum options for students, where learning is taking place outside of the standard classroom environment, and self-paced, independent learning is the new norm. Do you see this as a technolgy trend that will continue to grow, and if so, how do you think this may impact the social part of schooling? How can school leaders best prepare themselves for this shift?
Keith R. Krueger:
Yes, I think this is a major trend, especially “blended” strategies. Many educators/policymakers think of virtual education as an “either/or” to traditional classes. In fact, the fastest growing trend is having students take some courses online, but also be in a traditional school. This enables the student to access classes that are not available (not offered, inconvenient, etc.) to lots of students. It enables more 24/7 self-paced learning. I think the best way for educators to understand “what works/what doesn’t” in a virtual learning environment is to take an online course. Experience it yourself.
Question from Jennette Kane, Technology Integration Supervisor, Orange City Schools:
I agree that Superintendents should have a good understanding of how technology can impact the instructional process but maybe another question to consider is what about hiring more technology coordinators who have an educational background?
Scott McLeod:
Hi Jennette! Glad you could join us! (Jennette was one of our successful School Technology Leadership graduates when I was at U. Minnesota. She’s also a tech powerhouse: one of NSBA’s 20 to Watch for 2006!). I did a study a few years back for NCREL that, among other things, looked at the backgrounds of district technology coordinators all across the country. Most of them actually had an education background. District headquarters were more likely to come up from the educator ranks in order to from outside with an IT background. I think this is true because most districts are still pretty small. It’s the larger suburban and urban districts that tend to hire folks with IT backgrounds. Obviously there is a lot of variation on this across the country. I do think that someone with an education background is less likely to block and more likely to enable than someone with an IT background, but I’m speaking very generally here. I know a lot of very dedicated technology coordinators with IT backgrounds who are working very hard to enable powerful educational opportunities for students and teachers.
Question from Reed Markham, Associate Professor, Daytona Beach College:
Could you describe some specific examples of the knowledge/skills gap and the impact on schools? teachers? children?
Scott McLeod:
Hi Reed, see the Partnership for 21st Century Skills stuff. They do a much better job of articulating this than I would. Also see this blog post of mine (and the reports I link to): http://tinyurl.com/ywr644
Question from William F. Bertrand, Technology Education Advisor, Pennsylvania Department of Education:
Are you aware of the Standards for Technological Literacy?
Keith R. Krueger:
You should read the excellent article in Jan. 30 issue of Education Week on this very topic. Called “Tests of Tech Literacy Still Not Widespread Despite NCLB Goals”, it gives a very useful overview on the topic. Here is a short excerpt from the article: The federal No Child Left Behind Act, signed into law six years ago, made it a national goal for all 8th graders to be technologically literate. Unlike reading and math, though, tech literacy does not factor into the law’s school accountability provisions, and most states do not administer separate tech-literacy tests statewide. Still, at least one test-maker has seen the NCLB goal as an opening and developed assessments of tech literacy for 8th graders. Appropriately, those tests do use not paper and pencil, but instead are delivered to students via computers. Learning.com, a privately held Portland, Ore.-based company, has sold hundreds of thousands of its middle school version of TechLiteracy Assessment since the test was launched in 2005. “I think we’re at the early stages of this market—we’re just seeing a few of the early-adopter states that are doing an assessment [of tech literacy],” said company spokesman Mark Tullis. The Educational Testing Service, the Princeton, N.J.-based nonprofit testing giant that administers the SAT, has produced an online version of a tech-literacy assessment called iSkills that is appropriate for high school seniors and college freshmen, and another version for college juniors. Stephen Denis, ETS’ iSkills product manager, said that the assessment is marketed only to colleges and universities. He estimated that less than 5 percent of the roughly 15,000 iSkills tests that ETS has administered since the assessment was launched in 2005 were taken by precollegiate students. Moreover, the company has no immediate plans to come up with a test for 8th graders, the grade level specified in the NCLB law, said ETS spokeswoman Karen Bogan.
Question from John Lewis:
As a person who trains principals one of the challenges we face is to change the paradigm shift about technology from one of “hardware - software” to one of “learning, creativity, and creation. One issue that has continually resurfaced is the expertise of most technology coordinators. In brief, the coordinators are focused on issues of networking, security, hardware, etc. (all important factors), but principals do not have anyone on staff that can facilitate a conversation about learning with technology. The question that has come forward is this: Is an entry point to sustainable change found not only in the innovation of principal training and professional development - but also innovation in the ways and credentials we expect from our district or school technology leaders?
Scott McLeod:
This is an interesting question. There isn’t any official certification in most places for district- or building-level technology coordinators. The training that occurs at the preservice level for principals and superintendents rarely, if ever, deals with technology-related issues. Only a few universities have taken substantial steps to remedy this. Iowa State University, where CASTLE and I are, is one of those places. See our higher education partners at the CASTLE website for more. Generally speaking, less attention has been paid to technology integration needs in schools compared to hardware and network issues. It’s like we magically expect our staffs to be able to use the stuff we buy. Our professional development expenditures related to technology are pitifully low as well as often poorly planned. I like the concept of creating a technology leader credential. You’d have to decide who needed the credential. Is it technology coordinators? Is it principals? Who is it?
Question from Lee Allen, Asst. Prof., Univ. of Memphis:
The standard reply from district superintendents is that, yes, all that technology stuff is cool, and the kids like it, but I’ve got my hands full dealing with dropout rates, improving test scores, discipline, school safety, etc. What is your response to this?
Keith R. Krueger:
Absolutely right...our goal is not to be cool or trendy, but to solve real education problems with technology. We need to engage district supts in a conversation (see my previous description of CoSN’s new initiative) and it must be about how the world is changing and why education and the role of supt must also change. Rather than me making the case, lets listen to what some supts have told us: As Kevin Case, Superintendent of Inman Unified School District, KS, has told CoSN, “District leaders need to understand that change is a constant and be prepared to embrace it. We need to create an environment in which people feel free to take risks. We need the opportunity to network and keep up with what’s going on in the real world. That’s the only way we’ll know what the demands are and what the jobs are that kids are going to be doing when they graduate.” Mary Alice Heuschel, Superintendent of Renton School District, WA has said, “Technology use is multifaceted in our district. Kids use presentation software to show their work to the rest of class. Elementary teachers use handhelds for reading assessments. We use graphing calculators and a networked approach to teach math in middle school and high school. We’re working to strengthen distance learning and provide high-quality support for distance learning courses for credit. For today’s student and tomorrow’s future, the four walls aren’t the definition of school anymore. Technology is becoming second nature to all kids and how they learn.” Dr. Annette Griffin, Superintendent of Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD, TX says, “Students live in a digital world in which they multitask all the time. They will turn off to school if we don’t teach in their world. With information growing all the time and the technology itself changing so quickly, we need to teach students how to handle knowledge and be lifelong learners. Unless they have help accessing, processing and managing new information, they will not be prepared for their future.” Dennis Richards, Superintendent of Falmouth Public Schools, MA, “Technology should be used by teachers, students and others in the community to develop capacity, to think, interact, share ideas and resources, and to focus energy and attention on student learning. Technology has the power to do that in a way we’ve never been able to do before. We’re no longer limited by time and space. Technology frees us to interact with people around the globe.” Chip Kimball, Superintendent of Lake Washington School District, WA, “Technology can help with assessment -- from the most granular level to the big picture. Digital whiteboards and handhelds allow teachers to do immediate, on-the-spot formative assessments. Summative assessment data can be gathered and analyzed to inform our decisions about school improvement; we can slice it in a variety of ways, answering questions about the impact of a particular program or intervention on student achievement.” Milt Dougherty, Superintendent, USD444, Little River, KS, “Too often I see superintendents abdicating responsibility because they don’t know enough about the technology or other things that are coming their way. It’s fine to delegate but the superintendent needs to be the scout – the person who looks over the hill to see what’s coming and reports back to the rest of the troops. It doesn’t mean you should be a benevolent dictator and make all the decisions by yourself. But the superintendent has to have a vision about where the world is going and share that with other members of the leadership team so that, together, they can come up with a plan that will prepare students for the world they’ll be seeing after school.”
Question from Kerry Goodson, District Technology Coordinator, Louisiana:
As a district coordinator who is charged with training teachers in the integration of technology into standards-based lessons (classroom-based technology), how can I get my principals, supervisors, and superintendent to make the shift to be more technology knowledgeable? How do I go about convincing them to become trained, so as to fully understand the teacher’s role in technology integrated instruction and to understand why the teachers need adequate technology?
Scott McLeod:
See my previous answer on this. Also go to my blog, Dangerously Irrelevant, click on the Top Posts button, and then read a post called Creating digitally interested administrators and a post called Great blogs for busy administrators. The key is to hook them with their own job duties and responsibilities as well as what teachers are doing.
Question from Pat Kennedy, teacher, New Oxford Middle School:
With Web 2.0 and podcasting, blogging, and other types of interactive technology what is a good starting point with administration to get them to implement policies regarding the safe and appropriate use of these technologies?
Keith R. Krueger:
This is a big and growing issue. It is one that CoSN has been working to help district technology leaders think through. We have a great leadership initiative on safety/security from a district perspective called Cyber Security for the Digital District. It has tools to have a conversation with Supts/School Boards about safety/security...because frankly, the only completely safe network is one that is unused. But, as educators, we need to minimize risk and plan for the inevitable. Web2.0 tools have lots of great educational uses but school leaders need to understand the safety/security challenges in using them. Check out http://www.securedistrict.org/ Click on the various sections about tools for Supts/Policymakers, Technology Leaders and Students. Also, check out the StaySafeOnline toolkit for K-12 from the National Cyber Security Alliance. http://www.staysafeonline.org/basics/educators.html CoSN did a terrific webinair with the US Telecom Association which can be listed to hear about this topic.
Question from Bess Rose, Research & Evaluation Specialist, Maryland State Dept of Ed:
The Digital Directions article quotes a superintendent in Washington State: “Develop a skill around a task.” I agree this is the most effective approach for adult learners. One of the tasks most suited for technology at the state department of education is the collection, analysis, and reporting of data for myriad federal and state requirements. The key challenge is the education of state program managers (who are usually not at all technology or data proficient) to enable them to not only collect and report data accurately but to use the data for program improvement. What are you experiences with successful approaches to this problem?
Scott McLeod:
I actually do a lot of work on this front. There are a number of educational leadership faculty and consultants who work with schools or data-driven educational issues. But few of them talk about the technology side of things. I work with districts to help them understand data warehouses, and information systems, and formative assessment systems, and parent portals, and the like. You also can see some work we have done to try and boost the skill base of educators to do their own analysis at www.schooldatatutorials.org, which is one of CASTLE’s many free resources for educators. Another thing that I think we have to do is ground state program managers and other folks who intersect with data not only in the technical aspects of these systems but also on what good data-driven education looks like. I do a lot of that work too and, as you can imagine, it’s quite interesting.
Question from Brian Malloy, Math Teacher & Roster Chair, Bodine High School for International Affairs:
The problem with introducing new technology to schools is that many times it does not come with the proper staff development and it ends up in the closet. In order to get productive use out of technology, the entire staff must be trained on it and there should be follow up training. Why isn’t this done?
Keith R. Krueger:
You are absolutely right. Too often, educators have been willing to deploy technology with adequate planning. They are not thinking about the total cost of technology. Since 1999, CoSN has been working to help school administrators apply business concepts (Total Cost of Ownership - or TCO) in the school environment. In general, education continues to spend the vast majority of its budget on hardware and software, without adequate professional development, technical support or a plan to upgrade/replace. (See www.classroomtco.org) We must change the mindset and help admininstrators to understand that technology is like buying a school bus. Yes, you have the one-time cost of the bus, but you also must plan for a driver, insurance, gas, on-going maintenance, etc. Your specific question about PD is a major concern for everyone concerened about powerful/effective use of education technology. I will say that this is an area where I do think progress is happening. Under No Child Left Behind technology funding (Title IID), the current law requires a min. of 25% on PD. In fact, most places are far about that level, according to research from the state education technology directors who distribute EETT funds. And, CoSN, in partnership with ISTE and the state education technology directors, are promoting a new vision for funding when Congress reauthorizes NCLB or some other new legislation. Called the ATTAIN Act, it would set a much higher threshhold...40%. We have already garnered widespread bipartisan support for this proposal and it has been folded into draft bills by Education Chairmen Geo. Miller (House of Reps) and Edward Kennedy (Senate). So, I am optimistic about having a national focus on this problem going forward.
Question from Chris Tennant - a Former Principal In Central NY:
Scott, Will you elaborate on the 15 other programs that you mentioned in reference to technology leadership? Has the State of NY, the SUNY system been included in that? Cortland State for example has their educational programs as well as the administrative program but I was never exposed to classes that emphasized or truly supported the tech push. So where are they an how can we access those programs?
Scott McLeod:
www.schooltechleadership.org/highered - no SUNY institutions ever applied to be one of our partners. If they had, they would have received our entire curriculum free along with ongoing support and advisement (and a couple of free trips, including a meeting at Microsoft headquarters!). I don’t know what, if anything, the SUNY institutions are doing along this front. I’m guessing not much since I haven’t heard about any activity out there. As I noted in an earlier post, we are going to get our CASTLE classes back up and running here at Iowa State. They’ll all be online and thus accessible from anywhere.
Question from Gregg Zulauf, Retired Science Education Director and Classroom Teacher:
The use of technology in American schools is very costly. I know that many building level administrators do not have expertise in knowing how technologies best serve learning. What is being done nationally to educate administrators about the best use of expensive educational technology?
Scott McLeod:
Not much, unfortunately. When I was at the University of Minnesota, we started the first graduate program in the country designed to prepare technology-savvy school leaders. We then gave that curriculum away to 15 other postsecondary institutions. So there are a few educational administration programs across the United States that are trying to do a better job on the technology side of leadership reparation. There also are a few district-level initiatives such as the Chicago Principal Technology Leadership Institute. And a few states have followed up on the efforts that began with their grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation but most of those have died away and there’s just not much out there for practicing administrators.
Question from Ron Olfers, Technology Consultant, Trinity Episcopal School, Austin, TX:
How do you determine the areas where Technology drives Curriculum, and, where Curriculum utilizes Technology in supporting role.
Scott McLeod:
Technology should never drive curriculum. If it is, it’s not being done right. One of the reasons Plano, TX ISD has been so successful is that they figured this out at the beginning. Read more in my 2005 Threshold article: www.scottmcleod.net/publications
Question from karen r green community education council district 10 riverdale ny:
what is meant by developing a skill around a task?
Scott McLeod:
I interpreted that to mean that the learning is task-embedded rather than decontextualized. For example, don’t teach spreadsheets without connecting them to the real work that a teacher or administrator does. I’ve seen districts that will try and teach teachers PowerPoint or Excel or some other tool and use financial examples, real estate examples, and other inapplicable examples instead of linking the tools directly to the day-to-day activity of the educators.
Question from Scott Kutz, Technology, Innovation, Design & Engineering Teacher, Westlake High School (OH.):
Please, not another Tech chat about computers!! Which of the seven systems of technology do you mean? My friends, we have to broaden our scope of thinking! EdTech is just about the tool - Technological Literacy is about Innovation, Design, Engineering, and getting our kids to create (and I don’t mean another Powerpoint). The “tool” is just one of many resources in our “toolbox” to help kids discover, be curious, and ultimately help solve problems in creating their own future.
Scott McLeod:
Scott, I totally agree with you. I hope that we talk a lot about leadership issues at the intersection of technology, and not just the technology itself. That said, we also have to recognize that it is the stuff, it’s the technology itself, that is enabling many of these revolutions that are transforming global society. We can’t talk about change and we can’t talk about changes in schools without recognizing the technology.
Question from CANDY ECKERT Parent; St. Marys, PA:
Don’t you think that NCLB has created a bureaucratic, paranoid, totalitarian breed of administrators in our schools? With that, how could our school administrators possibly keep up with technology let alone care about the fundamentals things like health, safety, and producing well rounded citizens who can embrace the future with some sort of optimism. Yes, I am a cynical parent and my only child is only in 4th grade.
Scott McLeod:
I’m sorry if you’re experiencing paranoid totalitarian school leaders. Most of the administrators that I have the privilege of working with are decent, hard-working, well-intentioned educators. I do think that many educators, both teachers and administrators, have responded to NCLB in ways that are educationally and psychologically inappropriate (I concur with http://roomd2.blogspot.com/2007/02/on-nclb.html). We need to do a better job of helping educators visualize different ways of responding to accountability demands that are more productive for students. I do some of that work with schools, and it’s some of the most rewarding work I do.
Michelle Davis (Moderator):
Thank you all for submitting questions to the chat and to our guests for their thoughtful answers. For more information on this topic, take a look at the latest issue of Digital Directions.
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