The general question addressed is what technology leadership attributes make what kind of difference in the success of various technology-related programs. First, this article has integrated the prescriptive literature on technology leadership with the National Educational Technology Standards for Administrators (NETS-A) and then has operationalized technology leadership in terms of NETS-A. Data from the 1998 Teaching, Learning, and Computing nationwide survey of more than 800 schools were used to examine technology leadership characteristics and their effect on indicators of technology outcomes. The findings confirm that although technology infrastructure is important, technology leadership is even more necessary for effective utilization of technology in schooling.

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The purpose of this study was to document typical use and configuration of 1:1 computing in two schools focusing on the added value and unique challenges these uses present. A qualitative case study design was used in two middle schools (sixth, seventh and eighth grade) in the southeastern United States purposefully selected for their 1:1 computing programmes. Data were collected through formal and informal interviews, direct observations and site documents. Results indicated that online research, productivity tools, drill and practice, and eCommunications were the most frequent uses of computers in the 1:1 classroom. Moreover, the 1:1 classroom provided potentially transformative added value to these uses while simultaneously presenting unique management challenges to the teacher. In addition, the presence of 1:1 laptops did not automatically add value and their high financial costs underscore the need to provide teachers with high-quality professional development to ensure effective teaching. In order to create effective learning environments, teachers need opportunities to learn what instruction and assessment practices, curricular resources and classroom management skills work best in a 1:1 student to networked laptop classroom setting. Finally, researchers documented wide variation in fidelity to 1:1 computing, which suggests the need for further research exploring the conditions under which this variation exists.

A qualitative study of math and science teachers at two middle schools identifies how their system for learning to integrate technology into their teaching goes beyond what school leaders typically consider when planning for teachers' learning. In addition to (a) the districtinitiated, or formal, system of professional development (PD) and professional learning communities (PLCs), it includes (b) teacher-initiated, or informal, learning with colleagues as well as (c) teachers' independent learning activities. Analysis of why and how they form their system highlights how by only supporting the formal PD activities and PLCs, the district not only loses the valuable collective knowledge of the districts' teachers derived from their informal and independent learning activities, but also diminishes the learning teachers derive from the formal PD activities since informal collaborations and independent work after formal PD activities often helps to bring the learning from the training room to the classroom. We present teachers' insights and then discuss implications for the design of a holistic approach to facilitate teachers' formal, informal, and independent learning that is tied together and supported by technology. While research on formal, informal and independent teacher learning exists, with technology frequently mentioned as a potential support for each of these three modes, these approaches have not been considered together as interdependent parts of the same holistic system for teacher learning nor has the way technology might knit these modes of teacher learning together been imagined as a part of that system.

A cross-case analysis of five case studies of team-based technology leadership in middle schools with laptop programs identifies systems of practice that organize teams' distributed leadership. These cases suggest that successfully implementing a complex improvement effort warrants a teambased leadership approach, especially for an improvement concerned with using technology to support teaching and learning. Not only does such an effort include technical and curriculum/instruction issues, but the constantly changing nature of technology has implications for teaching and learning. A group of people working together on a technology leadership effort makes it more likely that the necessary amount of expertise is available and that the team can keep up to date and address all technology leadership needs. Key artifacts that organize important leadership practices include sharing a technology vision, providing instructional support personnel, aligning technology resources to the curriculum, and ensuring opportunities for teachers to learn, share, and provide input to the leadership team.