Educational Leadership and Technology Integration: An Investigation into Preparation, Experiences, and Roles

Abstract

This research, looking through the lens of Fullan (1991) regarding the complexity of implementing school wide change, sought to explore preparation and requirements of new administrators with respect to the integration of technology by first gathering data regarding licensure and course requirements from state departments of education and educational institutions. Overall, most states and institutions do not require any formal preparation in understanding or implementing technology for instructional purposes, and likely their graduates are not prepared to implement technology systemically in their school. Given that these data were remarkably uniform and next researchers sought to gather experiences, training, and perspectives of technology-savvy administrators as to how they learned what they know and how they lead their schools in the 21st century. We learned that administrators do learn on their own, have a dedication to these changes, and promote their staff members' implementation through professional development, by modeling its use, and purposefully setting goals for their school.

Technologies Frequently Used by Elementary Principals

“…A lack of instructional technology skills may be a result of the fact that most professional development efforts have focused on the needs of the classroom teachers, with little attention being paid to administrators' needs. Along those lines, Schrum, Galizio and Ledesma's [11] findings agree that not much energy has been devoted to giving principals an appropriate amount of technology professional development that will allow them to become stronger technology leaders. Schrum, Galizio and Ledesma [11] stressed that without adequate preparation, principals would not be able to become effective managers of technologies.…”

Making Learning Foundational in Developing School Leaders

“…These programs that ground theory in application were found to be most helpful in preparing for administrative roles. Schrum, (2011) notes that practicing administrators frequently stated that their graduate programs did not adequately prepare them for the technology demands of the job. Technology can be utilized in leadership preparation programs to enhance collaboration among participants and deepen reflective behaviors as they share insights into both theory and their practical experiences.…”

Assessing School Technology Leadership Practices: Perceptions from 1-to-1 Schools in the Context of Continuous Improvement

“…By various authors, school technology leadership is alternatively conceptualized as an extension of the school principal's role (Flanagan & Jacobsen, 2003), a composite of leadership indicators impacting technology outcomes (Anderson & Dexter, 2005), and a team-based model of school technology leaders involving various members from within the professional community (Dexter, Seashore Louis, and Anderson, 2009;Dexter, 2011;Gray, Thomas, & Lewis, 2010). When referring to technology leadership in K-12 schools, studies employ a range of terms including information and communications technology (ICT) leadership (e.g., Tondeur, Devos, Van Houtte, Van Braak, & Valcke, 2009;Yee, 2000), information technology (IT) leadership (e.g., Hollingsworth & Mrazek, 2004), and leadership for educational technology (ed tech) (e.g., Schrum, Galizio, & Ledesma, 2011). In this literature review, the term school technology leadership is used to encompass all of these constructs.…”

“…Most recently, in the Project RED large-scale national survey of 997 respondents from 828 schools in 49 states, change management leadership by principals and principal training were identified as key implementation factors linked to positive impacts, ranking second and ninth respectively in list of nine key factors (Greaves, Hayes, Wilson, Gielniak, & Peterson, 2010). The amount and types of technology training received by school principals have been linked to the level of technology integration achieved in schools' teaching and learning systems (Dawson & Rakes, 2003), though a review and survey of programs suggests that little technology leadership training is actually required of the majority of leaders in formal preparation programs and licensure processes (Schrum et al, 2011).…”

“…Technology Standards for Administrators (NETS*A) are often cited as the recognized set of professional standards to guide the actions of school technology leaders (Richardson et al, 2012). Developed in 2001 from a collaboration between key professional organizations including the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), the National School Board Association (NSBA), the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and other interested parties, these standards were updated in 2009 to reflect changes in the field and in the larger society (Richardson et al, 2012;Schrum et al, 2011). In spite of their popularity, the number of rigorous studies supporting their impact is minimal.…”