Week 1 Innovative Leadership

 Week 1

In Stachowiak and McClay (2024) I read chapter 2 about avoiding technology crashing and burning by collaborating before the launch of a new technology initiative. Rick Hassler helped a district become a one-one iPad district and it did not go over well. He learned from this experience that administrators need to be active in the launch and it cannot just come from the technology department. There needs to be more professional development when launching technology initiatives because otherwise teachers have the technology but do not know how to use it in a manner that benefits the students. The final takeaway from the reading is that changing the mindset of senior staff is crucial for success. Sometimes the most veteran teachers have the biggest learning curve with technology so it is important to inform them of the why and how it is going to be done and improve student outcomes (Stachowiak and McClay, 2024). 

Having technology is simply not enough and that was shown in the readings from this week. Bartholomew et al (2017) found that technology given to students without teaching them how to use it did not significantly impact self-directed learning and teacher impact was the strongest predictor of success over technology. These findings were echoed Rashid and Asghar (2016) found that how technology is used plays a big role in its effect on education. Unstructured time and excessive use for non-academic purposes hurt academic growth. The overall finding was technology alone is not enough and does not guarantee academic success and self-directed learning, teachers should focus on teaching students how to use technology (Rashid and McCay, 2016). 

Connections to the ISTE standards are seen because in the interview Hassler mentions how ISTE standards can provide guidance for teachers on how to implement technology and change to a more student centered approach. This gets in to proper professional learning for teachers to be trained on the standards and the technology. Now Hassler has teachers participate in eight professional learning sessions every year and their classes are covered. Teachers are also assigned a coach to support them (Stachowiak and McClay 2024). This way teachers have the time to implement the initiatives and can receive feedback. The challenges faced in all of these readings are time, money, and changing mindsets. To implement PBL it takes time, money, and teachers who are on board. These challenges are addressed starting with strong leadership to lead by example. Teachers need to see administrators taking this change head on and practicing it with the teachers, as well as the before mentioned professional learning. 

My perspective from the week is that I agree with the challenges and leadership. It is important to understand the how and why of these changes. All teachers in the building need to know they are expected to implement the initiatives and meet with administrators if they are concerned.  I am inspired by the idea of seeing schools who have done this hard work and succeed and for the classroom I enjoyed reading about student-centered approaches for the classroom. It is a good reminder of what great classrooms look like. 

References 

Bartholomew, S.R., Reeve, E., Veon, R., Goodridge, W., Lee, V., and Nadelson, L.                    (2017). Relationships between access to mobile devices, student self-directed learning,         student engagement, and academic performance.Links to an external site.

Rashid, T., & Asghar, H. M. (2016). Technology use, self-directed learning, student engagement, and academic performance: Examining the  interrelations. Computers in Human Behavior, 63, 604-612.

McClay, J, and Stachowiak. “Avoiding a Technology Crash and Burn Scenario through Collaborative Leadership.” Pressbooks.pub, Innovate Learning, LLC, 2024,                 pressbooks.pub/edd7032018f/chapter/avoiding-a-technology-crash-and-burn-scenario-through-collaborative-leadership/.