Assignment #2

I am learning that I can improve my digital leadership by modeling for my staff, parents and community that I look for value and potential in everything I use in regards to technology.  Also, that I am I am always learning new technologies that bring value to my professional and personal life. Another way I can immediately improve my digital leadership is to learn about the emerging cultures from the varying age levels and and communities. Which means I need to be more connected to multiple platforms of communication.

The cautions I should attend to in the change process are: What are people losing in the implementation of the new technologies? In this situation I believe people believe they will be losing time. Sure they may "lose" time on the front end, but how much time they gain on the back end will be exponential. This year was spent showing and explaining to teachers how implementing technology will give them back their time to do more. Do they have a real emotional pull towards what they are giving up in terms of implementing new technology?  Many staff love specific activities they have been using for many years and have an emotional connection to. However, could their activity still be done in a way that is more efficient, effective and engaging to students if only they were willing to make a shift? I believe staff could still love to do the same activities and yet realize the possibilities are endless when using technology. Also, what are people’s capacity for learning the new technology and am I providing PD time or support in the form of allowing them to fail forward? Because there are varying levels of teacher capacity and readiness, there needs to be a system and assessment in place to help determine where the need is and who staff can rely on for support. The self assessment tool online was a great resource and a valuable on to implement in the fall.

In the six secrets of change I feel like the first  four can be accomplished together.  If you love your employees, you will want to connect with your peers over purpose; this then is how you build capacity about the learning at hand.  These four seem like a no brainer to support.  The challenge I believe lies with being transparent about the learning and systems used to continually engage, motivate and learn.   The reason for the challenge is that sometimes employees will feel like there is a hidden agenda or motive.  Once we can move past this idea that we are trying to “fix” people, then we can begin embracing the learning, teaching, and technology used to connect us.

The NETS-A and ISTE table 4.1 (p.75) is a great resource that shows where the standards from multiple frameworks align.  This table seems to pull the guesswork out of determining if you are in line with the standards.  I would love to create a linked document or form that allows one to put in a social media link or process and populates what standards you meet with it.  This would be a great productivity tool to assess your tools?  

1. Communications - Facebook, Twitter, Class Dojo, PiktoChart, etc.
2. Public relations - Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat,
3. Branding - Logo, Messaging on Sites, Followers
4. Professional Growth and Development - Systems where teachers can model and observe with and through technology.
5. Student engagement and learning - Collecting and analyzing student perception data about the specific technology tools and instruction being used.
6. Opportunity - Being aware of technology in and out of the classroom for students who are disadvantaged
7. Learning environment and spaces - As technology changes and the way in which we communicate does as well, we will need to be aware of how to transform our current environments.