Skip to main content

Week 11: Looking Back

This week in class, we took a look back at the learning goals that was provided at the beginning of the course.  I think that I have met most, if not all, of these goals but I think that it is an important exercise for me to critically analyze and measure how I am doing for each one individually:

Goal 1: Theory to practice. Apply new understandings of tech leadership theory to practice and in the course.

This is perhaps one of the goals that I dedicated the most time and effort towards.  The course was really designed around not only learning about tech leadership theories, but also applying these theories in practice.  In the course, this was evident during the theory presentation assignment, the case study assignment, and the blue sky metaphor assignment (at least that's the plan since it's not until next week!).  It's pretty interesting how much the theory from this course has also crossed over to my professional practice as well.  I find that I'm even quoting some of these theories in everyday conversations!  I think that several of my learning log entries demonstrate that I have applied what I am learning in this class to my professional practice.

Goal 2: Develop and present a case study on technology leadership that identifies the potential, affordances, barriers and issues related to tech in the workplace.

This was definitely the most interesting and involved task for the course.  I really enjoyed working with my group and I was very excited that we investigated the move to online final assessments in high school eLearning courses as this was based off of a scenario that is happening in my board right now.  Examining this case study from a critical and theoretical lens has really helped to solidify my understanding of tech leadership theories.

Goal 3: Demonstrate learning in the course. Participate in a learning log for reflection on metacognition. Self and peer assess.

Blogging about our classes on a weekly basis has provided a framework for me to take what we learned in class and think about how I am learning it and how I can apply it to my professional practice.

Goal 4: Review the ISTE standards for technology leaders and apply them to analyze policy or leadership practice.

I don't think that I've achieved this goal to a high level.  It would have been great to seen the ISTE standards incorporated into class on a weekly basis so that we could see their application to various scenarios.

Goal 5: Synthesize the course readings, discussions and presentations.

Again, I have been able to synthesize the information presented in class through my learning log.  This will be even more evident next week when I complete my final learning log reflection to synthesize what I have learned in this course.

Goal 6: Develop and articulate a philosophy of technology leadership.

This goal is still to be met and will be presented with my blue sky thinking presentation in class next week.

Goal 7: Reflect on the course design, take responsibility for your own learning, and provide feedback to ensure that this course meets your learning needs.

Again, the learning log has been a fantastic venue to achieve this goal.  I have included posts on both positive and negative aspects of my learning experiences in this course.  I've also done several readings on my own about leadership, such as reading George Couros' book called "The Innovator's Mindset".
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 1: Getting Started

This week marks the beginning of this course. I have to admit that I was pretty excited about taking this class; it relates so much to my role as Head of Science and Information Technology at the school I teach at in the Halton District School Board (HDSB). I also just took “Foundations of Leadership” last semester with Bill Muirhead and I am looking forward to continuing my learning about leadership. I am still fairly new to my role as a department head; this is my second year and I’m finally feeling like I have a better grasp on what my job entails. One of my goals this year is to further build staff capacity around technology in the classroom so I’m hoping to gain a lot of great ideas and learn about various theories that I can implement in my practice. I am also continuing my work on motivating my staff to shift their practices towards more problem-based or project-based learning and I’m eager to learn more about leadership theories and active learning in general. In sett...
Post a Comment
Read more

Week 2: The Innovation-Policy Gap

This week's readings were focused on digital privacy.  It is clear from from both Davis (2014) and Leatham & Robertson (2017 ) that there exists some major discrepancies between innovation, the use of technology in education, and policy.  In particular, as I was reading the Leatham & Robertson (2017) article, I began to question my own practices and choices of digital tools in the classroom... do they protect student digital privacy or am I unknowingly putting my students at risk here?  I will certainly be examining the digital tools that I choose much more closely to ensure that this is not the case. I found the following quote from Leatham & Robertson (2017) particularly interesting: "Teachers, and in particular, early adopters appear to be caught in the cross-currents of multiple and contradictory technology imperatives" (p. 3).  This quote really caught my eye because it is linked to the leadership theory that I am working on with my group for Assi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Week 12: Blue Sky Thinking

I have seen a general theme running through both this course and my practice in my leadership role. Technology leadership, or really any leadership, always comes back to RELATIONSHIPS. Fostering good relationships with staff and students creates a positive environment which is key to gaining trust and buy-in. This, in turn, allows for risk-taking and innovation. As I look back on the course, relationships were seen interwoven throughout the course content. For example, relationships were central to many of the leadership theories that I examined early on in the course. As a leader, using and modelling the use of technology can influence attitudes, as seen in social learning behaviour, which can then influence behaviours. This is linked to the theory of reasoned action, which describes how attitudes as well as norms can influence behaviour. Both attitudes and beliefs about the usefulness of introducing and adopting a new technology will influence the adoption. Communities o...
Post a Comment
Read more