Administrators and Resistance to Technology

Entry #5

One of the issues we discussed as one of our top ten was that administrators can be resistant to student use of technology. My experience has been that they love observing teachers using technology in their lessons or the students using computers to look up information or to practice skills they have learned and often encourage teachers to use technology in this way. However, if they walk through your classroom or come to observe and notice students commenting on someone else’s blog, they may not feel as though that is truly “educational”. Much of this resistance is because there are no principals from the net generation (yet!) and therefore they don’t understand why the socialization aspect of learning through the use of technology is important.

In my July 10 blog, I summarized a blog by a teacher from a school called Trinity. In this blog, the author points out the following: “systemic change won't happen if it doesn't begin with educators using web tools in their every day lives. In other words, if an educator doesn't know how these tools can impact their own learning and the tools' place in society as whole, then they won't be able to successfully implement it in the classroom.” I feel that this is also true for administrators.

I found an article called Principals Who Can’t Live Without Technology. In this article, several principals are reporting about their use of technology. The first principal is carrying her Palm to a classroom so she can record her classroom observations. She keeps her cell phone with her (along with her Bluetooth wireless earpiece) so that she can keep in touch with the office. Of course if she doesn’t want to disturb the class to make a call to the office, she can always text message. After her observations, she can download her observation notes from her handheld to her office computer. What a time-saving tool her Palm is for her! Another principal purchased a Blackberry and his comments about how it helps him are as follows: “Before I purchased my Blackberry, if I was away from the office for a day it would take a couple hours the next day to return email that had accumulated. Now I am free to answer and send emails throughout the day. When I return to the office the next day I am free to start my day (instead of answering yesterday’s emails).” This principal even takes his Blackberry on vacation with him. Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a principal walking around the school ready and available if need be rather than being cooped up in his or her office all the time because they have had several meetings in a row and are backed up on their work? Another principal uses her iPAQ on a daily basis. She says the following: “I have my iPAQ with me at all times. I make notes and write down tasks as they come to mind, even when I am in our classrooms. And this year we were trained to conduct walk-throughs and classroom observations on our iPAQs.” This principal downloads her observation notes onto her schools district-wide Web-based appraisal program. Teachers are then able to view the evaluators’ observation notes on their own computers. As a teacher, how awesome would instant feedback from your administrator’s observation notes be? I know I am always anxious to hear what my principal or vice-principal has to say after an observation! This particular principal also uses the calendar feature of her iPAQ’s Outlook email system to schedule all her appointments. Her secretary also has access to this and is able to input all the different school events. The principal and assistant principal “beam” each other their daily schedules so they know where to find one another throughout the course of the day. Databases with all of the student’s information are a favorite tool of many principals. These databases contain EVERY imaginable piece of information about each student! Some of these databases are wonderful in that they become a communication tool between the school and parents. Teachers are able to “track parent contacts, and any parent can sign up to have Web access to his or her child's grades. When a parent clicks on a grade, a list of all assignments and scores earned pops up. There is also a link a parent can use to e-mail a teacher for further information.” I think this is also a time-saver for principals because instead of having to deal with upset parents around report card time, the administrator can be available for other important responsibilities.

Although I knew there were technology standards for teachers, I did not realize there were technology standards for administrators. I found some valuable information from exploring this website. I think the following two quotes taken direction from this website say a lot about school administrators and technology:

• “The Collaborative for Technology Standards for School Administrators (TSSA Collaborative) believes that comprehensive implementation of technology is, in itself, large-scale systemic reform. Leadership plays a key role in successful school reform. The Collaborative’s standards, therefore, focus on the role of leadership in enhancing learning and school operations through the use of technology.”
• “Administrators who recognize the potential of technology understand that leadership has a responsibility to ensure digital equity. They must also know that technology can unlock tremendous potential in learners and staff with special and diverse needs. Administrators are responsible for incorporating assistive technologies that enable a school system to more comprehensively serve its constituents.”
  

I am hoping that with these two articles/websites that I have discovered, it is more apparent what administrators can do in order to become more accepting, rather than resistant, in encouraging teachers to incorporate technology (especially the socialization aspect) into student learning. If they themselves are using technology in their daily lives and see the importance of it, surely they will realize the importance of it in the lives of their students. If they find themselves unable to live without technology, surely they will understand how these Net Gens who have never even been without technology must feel! I believe if more administrators were using technology it would cause a “school reform” as a trickle down effect. More teachers would begin using technology and as a result of that more students would be permitted to use technology in school as crucial component of their education. In her blog entitled “What the Presidential Candidates Should be Promising”, Jeanell brought up a good point about presidents. She wrote the following: “Imagine that, a president that understands the importance of technology even way down in the education system. This is when I think we will start to see changes happening.” This is also a trickle down effect theory. If the president understands the importance of technology then he will pass that down to the rest of the country who will then begin to understand the value of technology who will then pass that on. I am attempting to bring up the same point with administrators as she is with the president!

Issue: How can administrators be more encouraging rather than resistant when it comes to implementing technology in students’ daily learning?

Solution: If administrators use technology as a part of their daily lives, it will cause them to realize the value and importance of technology and they will in effect encourage its use as a crucial component in student learning.