Doctorate in Educational Technology- My Journey Pt. 2, Leading Change

I am currently enrolled in a course, "leading Change", which has been enlightening and exciting to learn about. One of the most informative modules we have begun is focused on charactistics of an effective leader. What does it take to lead an organization or team to accomplish a goal? We began with this questionaire to find out our personal leadership preferences, try it here, and the leadership skills questionaire here. Once you find out more about your own personal leadership, you can determine which of the other aspects you might want to learn more about in order to integrate them into your current style.

Here is my take on the most important leadership skills and how technology affects a leaders style. According to the Conceptualizing leadership questionnaire by Sage (2016a) I rated ability and relationship as the highest characteristics for how I define and view leadership. I was not surprised by this outcome since I believe that forming relationships is the most important component of leadership. Yammarino (2013) wrote that leaders are both born and made, and Northouse (2013) wrote that leadership is not a trait or characteristic but a process which utilizes the influences on others to accomplish a mutually beneficial outcome. Leadership is a process and one that involves exerting influence on others to accomplish a goal.

            The definition of leadership that I agree with most was written by Yammarino (2013), Leadership is a multilevel leader-follower interactive process where all share a purpose and jointly accomplish things willingly. This definition encompasses the people who will share in the process and the process itself. In contrast Northouse (2013) emphasized that leadership is a process and in my view, is shortsighted. Based on these definitions I would contend that the definition of leadership is both a process an emergent trait involving both leader and followers who work together to accomplish a mutually beneficial goal based on interactions that flow from mutual influence from the leader and followers.

            Technology has made the process of leadership more efficient for those who have the capacity to utilize it. Northouse (2013) wrote that organizations have management and leadership kinds of positions. Both management and leadership style positions can benefit from the integration of technology. Under the management style creating agendas, timelines, budgets, resources allocation, communication all lend themselves well to increase efficiency with the use of technology. On the leadership side communicating vision, the larger picture, collaboration, team building are easily aspects that can be enhanced with the use of technology.

            The five characteristics that I feel are most essential for leadership are derived from McClesky’s (2014) four factors of transformational leadership: ability to influence others in a positive form, is inspirational, is intellectually stimulating, and uses individualized considerations when making decisions. The fifth and most important characteristic that I feel is most important is an ability to encourage others to co-create and work towards realizing a vision and is organized to be able to develop a plan to implement it.

            I am curious about one aspect of leadership that has not been addressed. I believe that a true leader is one who first is willing to serve. The term servant leadership as discussed in the article, “Servant Leadership and the effect of the interaction between humility, action, and hierarchical power on follower engagement” by Sousa and Dierendonck (2017). The most effective leaders are those who are willing to lead from behind.

Reference

Hechanova, R., & Cementina-Olpoc, R. (2013). Transformational leadership, change management, and commitment to change: A comparison of academic and business organizations. Asia-Pacific Education Researcher (Springer Science & Business Media B.V.), 22(1), 11–19.

McClesky, J. A. (2014). Situational, transformational, and transactional leadership and leadership development. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 5(4), 117–130.

Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and practice (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Sage. (2016a). Conceptualizing leadership questionnaire. Retrieved from http://studysites.sagepub.com/northouseintro2e/study/resources/questionnaires/89527_01q.pdf

Sage. (2016b). Leadership skills questionnaire. Retrieved from http://studysites.sagepub.com/northouseintro2e/study/resources/questionnaires/89527_05q.pdf

Sousa, M. m., & Dierendonck, D. d. (2017). Servant Leadership and the effect of the interaction between humility, action, and hierarchical power on follower engagement. Journal of Business Ethics, 141(1), 13-25. doi:10.1007/s10551-015-2725-y

Yammarino, F. (2013). Leadership: Past, present, and future. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 20(2), 149–155.

Doctorate in Educational Technology- My Journey Pt. 1

EdD, Educational Technology

If someone were to ask me if I were interested in earning my doctorate a little more than a year ago, I would have responded in a resounding no. I already had preconceived notions about graduate work let alone advanced graduate work. My masters was a program that was fairly rigorous, so I made the assumption that a doctorate would be just as rigorous if not more. So, what was the reason that led me to climb up the mountain?

My hope is that once I am finished with this process I will be a competitive applicant for a leadership position in my district or that I find opportunities to teach in higher education. I am hoping for these doors to open much later in my career because there is still room to grow in my current position as a digital learning coach. Recently, I was able to earn the Google for Education Trainer Certification. This process involves first earning level one and two, passing a total of three exams and an extensive application process that includes a video demonstrating how you innovatively use an app to transform learning. Now that this process is complete, I feel a deep sense of accomplishment, and confidence that I have demonstrated mastery of the skills necessary to be sanctioned by Google to conduct training in my district and in others as well.

Infographic: eLearning

I choose to pursue a doctorate in educational technology because I am passionate about good teaching. I have dedicated my life for the past 15 years to be the best I can be for my students and now for the teachers I work with. Being an effective teacher in today's classroom also means being an  effective facilitator with the ability to leverage, and seamlessly integrate educational technology. When I bought my own iPad and brought it to my class for my kids and I to use, the engagement level was off the charts! At that moment, I knew that I wanted to harness the power of technology to create an environment that tapped the innovation and creativity of my students s they could demonstrate their mastery and express their thinking in a variety of ways. I will eventually seek to lead decision makers and stakeholders to continue to garner more technology for our students and support teachers in every way possible to integrate it effectively into the curriculum throughout all content areas and grade levels.

Graphic Representation of my Professional Learning Network

The program that I decided to enroll in is an educational doctorate which is designed for those that wish to continue to be a practitioner rather than a researcher. This program in educational technology will prepare graduates to lead, research, and to design systems of integration, implementation, and program evaluation within a program, organization, district, or institution.

I began the climb up my mountain in May of 2016. I am currently one year into the journey and I have four courses to go before I can begin research. I anticipate that research should take another year  or so and then I can graduate in the spring of 2019 if everything goes well. The following are the notable and tentative decisions I have made so far in anticipation of the research I will do.

Topic: The pivotal moment of inspiration for teachers to fully integrate educational technology.

Research method: Qualitative field research using interview.

Conceptual framework: Constructivism

Here is an example of a multimedia project that I created in one of my classes. It culumnated from all the modules in the couse put together. It took a lot of time and effort, but I am very proud of it.

You have a 3D printer, now what?

Administrators, teachers, and students alike are eager to provide 21st century learning tools onto the campus and in classrooms. If you are thinking about purchasing or already have a 3D printer the million dollar question is, "what do I do with it" other than the obvious. What are the educational benefits that can be gained from having this relatively expensive piece of hardware.

I am remined of a Wendy's commercial from my childhood that asked, "where's the beef?!!" In this instance, lets ask, "where's the pedagogy?" I was very happy to meet up with my amazing teammate who informed me that she found a free web based software called Tinkercad that can be used to produce the 3D file type (Stl) needed to print a object. Tinkercad is an easy to use web based software that with a little teacher support even a kindergartener could use successfully.

With the use of basic shapes a student can create anything. Here are a few that can be used:

        

Using a combination of these shapes student can create 3D objects and save them as Stl files to print on a 3D printer.

I hope you have the chance to create your own object and print it!

#Innovator's Mindset MOOC- Oct.15- Oct. 22

Part IV: Concluding Thoughts, Chapters 13-14.

In the book by George Couros, "The Innovator's Mindset", we are asked to reflect on the question, are we there yet? Couros is referring to how schools, educators specifically, know when a level of innovation and excellence has been attained. As educators we look for indications of student success in large part given by test data. Yes, we need to use test data because sometimes we have to "operate inside the box", however, we are not limited to only using test data to measure student growth and success. Couros suggests we use digital portfolios as well.

I was excited to read his recommendation because I am a proponent of digital portfolios for students and teachers. I have written about it in the past and have found that there is innovative and transformative power in the creation and successful organization of digital portfolios. Couros wrote that effective digital portfolios take on two goals:

1) Learning Portfolio which shows a person's growth over time.
2) Showcase Portfolio that highlights a person's best work.

If we were to create a digital portfolio system and use them to accomplish these two goals then the way schools: provide feedback, measure and encourage growth, communicate with parents, increase mindfulness and metacognition, increase engagement and quality of work, provide an authentic purpose and audience, all become much more efficient and effective.

I have two recommendations for digital portfolios:

Seesaw and Google Drive.

I have personally built and used digital portfolio systems for both teachers and students using these two systems. Both are equally versatile, secure, sustainable, and one of the best parts, free.

In conclusion, one of the final thoughts of the book that inspired me was this, "If we only teach students the curriculum, we have failed them." School and education encompasses so much more than academics. The content we teach is but a mere fraction of what students have the capacity and inclination to learn. The frightening part is that all too many will never have the chance to experience the joy of learning in a classroom. They will have to wait 18 or 19 years until they leave in order to do so.

#Innovator's Mindset MOOC- Oct.8- Oct. 15

In part III, Chapter 3 of George Couros's book, "The Innovator's Mindset, we are challenged to empower our students by learning who they are and what they are passionate about, and then generating learning experiences that allow for them to integrate their interests and passions into creating something that can demonstrate learning. If we as teachers want to truly empower our students we need to teach to our student's strengths. "To create a culture where innovation flourishes, we have to realize that, in many cases, we already have everything we need, we just need to tap into those resources" (Couros, 2015). I can not recall the countless times my students have taught me something. In those instances, both my student and I are so proud, I in them, and them in their own mastery and insight! Providing the context and opportunity to engage a student's passion will yield deep critical thinking and masterful creations far beyond a multiple choice assessment.

I was intrigued by the study that was conducted by Tom Rath. He found that 40% of employees would be actively disengaged if their boss ignored them, 22% if the boss focused on the weaknesses, and an astounding 1% actively disengaged if the boss focused on the strengths alone. Can you imagine how this might translate into 99% active engagement just by a teacher focusing on the strengths of students! Couros makes an insightful point in asking why we would take an elective away from a student (presuming that the student might be really good or truly enjoy that elective) to practise more of what they need help in? This leads to an inadvertent punishment and will most likely result in increased frustration and hostility in the weak subject.

I enjoyed the quote that Couros included from Joesph Joubert, "To teach is to learn twice". It reminded me of an equally powerful quote by Jennifer Hogan to the left. If we forget what it was like when we were students then we are not going to truly connect with ours. we must continue to learn and to expand what we can offer to our students. If we become static or complacent then we are actively holding our student's back. Think about that for a moment because it has serious implications. Choosing to continue without growing or expanding your knowledge will cause your student's to be held back. It makes me think of a great rock protruding in the middle of a rushing stream. The water rushes past and for the swimmer who gets to close to the rock will be trapped by the currents that are forced continually inward. It is not without great force that the swimmer escapes, having to expend tremendous energy that could have been spent swimming further onward.

References:

Couros, G. (2015). The innovator’s mindset: Empower learning, unleash talent, and lead a culture of creativity. United States: Dave Burgess Consulting.

#Innovator's Mindset MOOC- Oct.1- Oct. 8

I am so happy that George Couros emphasizes relationships in his book, "The Innovator's Mindset". In my heart, I truly believe that the solution to remove most of the majors barriers that keep our student's from learning can be overcome by forming meaningful relationships. An entire chapter is dedicated to this one aspect of what we do as innovative educators. I enjoy how there are overtones of this concept throughout the entire book which only serves to reinforce the notion that unless we have the benefits that come with a solid relationship, we will not enjoy the fruits that follow from the labor. Whether you are a teacher or administrator, relationships are a crucial aspect of what we do. The graphic on the left captures the importance of relationships. No matter what age or level, context or environment, relationships are essential to a solid foundation for student success.

How do relationships relate to innovation? In order to be an innovator there is a certain amount of trust that has to be established because the innovator takes a chance and there is a chance of failure. The innovator must know that failure will not result in any castigation. The level of trust also equates to the quality of the results that follow. Couros emphasized that importance of personal individual interactions in order to build trust and understanding. He asks the question, "Do you see personal moments you have with your staff as investments or expenditures?" I think the way we answer this question will indicate your level of trust building ability.

Couros also describes the differences between engagement and empowerment.

"Engaging students means getting kids excited about our content, interests, and curricula. Empowering students means giving kids the knowledge and skill to pursue their passions, interests, and future."

Which is more beneficial for the student? Inevitable, we need to realize that the opportunities that are more learner-centered will yield the highest benefit for our students. We must try to empower them and not just engage them.