In the context of what we know of teacher’s skills with ICT, the looming national curriculum, general leadership skills, and leadership theory examine at least one major issue confronting leadership in relation to ICT in 2011. Some possible issue areas are (you can choose others by negotiation):
Writing by hand and word processing ... why bother?
Student technologies in the school ... ignore them?
Should personalisation of learning be a dominant theme in our school?
24/7 education and impacts on student and staff ... don’t do it?
Moving to mobile computing ....where is the classroom?
Is Mathlectics better than our teachers at generating maths outcomes and what might this mean? www.mathletics.com
Social networking and learning ... don’t touch my Facebook?
Once excellent teachers ... but out of touch with contemporary learning styles of their students?
Introducing a learning management system like Scholaris ... what will the impacts be?
Student technologies in the school....ignore them? To teach as we have always done will not develop relevant skills sets nor prepare students to succeed in the 21st century. I believe that we need to see through the eyes of our students and embrace existing and new technologies.
Students today, get limitless information, they have access 24/7! “The average student spends at least four hours daily interacting with their digital gadgets” (Kharback, 2012, p. 47). “Telstra’s 2011 Smartphone Index stated that 61 per cent of Australian smartphone owners accessed the internet on a daily basis. The index also predicted that by the middle of 2012, smartphone ownership in Australia is expected to grow to 60 percent of the Australian Mobile-owning population” (Blackman, 2012, p. 72). Why not embrace a BYOD policy, embrace technology that students are using and want to use?
I believe that many schools are not currently adopting a BYOD policy due to fear of safeguarding students from potential online risks and security issues in terms of theft. However, I also believe that this is a top-down approach to policy making. I believe that the majority of the time it is the leaders within a school who make the decisions ‘for’ the students, not ‘with’ the students. As Peter DeWirr blogged, “When schools ban handheld devices there is a hidden message that is sent to students as well. That message is that schools are decades behind and are disengaged with the very population they are supposed to be educating” (Blackman, 2012, p. 74).
I have spoken to teachers from numerous Australian schools that have adopted a BYOD policy and have found it successful. Schools who have found a BYOD policy successful generally have a whole school approach to cyber safety and digital citizenship. Maybe more leaders should involve students in the decision making process about their education?
Kharbach, M. (2012) Twenty-first Century Skills For Students. Education Technology Solutions, 48, 47- 50.
Blackman, J. (2012) Mobile technologies- Whole School Approaches. Education Technology Solutions, 48, 72-76.
Writing by hand and word processing ... why bother?
Student technologies in the school ... ignore them?
Should personalisation of learning be a dominant theme in our school?
24/7 education and impacts on student and staff ... don’t do it?
Moving to mobile computing ....where is the classroom?
Is Mathlectics better than our teachers at generating maths outcomes and what might this mean? www.mathletics.com
Social networking and learning ... don’t touch my Facebook?
Once excellent teachers ... but out of touch with contemporary learning styles of their students?
Introducing a learning management system like Scholaris ... what will the impacts be?
Student technologies in the school....ignore them?
To teach as we have always done will not develop relevant skills sets nor prepare students to succeed in the 21st century. I believe that we need to see through the eyes of our students and embrace existing and new technologies.
Students today, get limitless information, they have access 24/7! “The average student spends at least four hours daily interacting with their digital gadgets” (Kharback, 2012, p. 47). “Telstra’s 2011 Smartphone Index stated that 61 per cent of Australian smartphone owners accessed the internet on a daily basis. The index also predicted that by the middle of 2012, smartphone ownership in Australia is expected to grow to 60 percent of the Australian Mobile-owning population” (Blackman, 2012, p. 72). Why not embrace a BYOD policy, embrace technology that students are using and want to use?
I believe that many schools are not currently adopting a BYOD policy due to fear of safeguarding students from potential online risks and security issues in terms of theft. However, I also believe that this is a top-down approach to policy making. I believe that the majority of the time it is the leaders within a school who make the decisions ‘for’ the students, not ‘with’ the students. As Peter DeWirr blogged, “When schools ban handheld devices there is a hidden message that is sent to students as well. That message is that schools are decades behind and are disengaged with the very population they are supposed to be educating” (Blackman, 2012, p. 74).
I have spoken to teachers from numerous Australian schools that have adopted a BYOD policy and have found it successful. Schools who have found a BYOD policy successful generally have a whole school approach to cyber safety and digital citizenship. Maybe more leaders should involve students in the decision making process about their education?
Kharbach, M. (2012) Twenty-first Century Skills For Students. Education Technology Solutions, 48, 47- 50.
Blackman, J. (2012) Mobile technologies- Whole School Approaches. Education Technology Solutions, 48, 72-76.
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