Collaborative Technology Integration Plan Screencast and Reflective Analysis
Screencast Presentation References
Davis, D. (2019). VA Acquisition Academy Warriors to Workforce Program Management (PM) Program Collaborative Technology Integration Plan. unpublished
ISTE. (2019). ISTE Standards for Students . Retrieved from ISTE: https://www.iste.org/standards/for students
ISTE. (2019). ISTE Standards for Educators. Retrieved from ISTE: https://www.iste.org/standards/for educators
Whitehead, B., Jensen, D., & Boschee , F. (2013). Planning for Technology (2nd ed.). Thousands Oaks, CA: Corwin.
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Digital Leadership Reflective Analysis
A craving as old as time itself is the desire for compelling and creative leadership (Burns, 2010). In today's word, a focus on leadership has been replaced by the "cult of personality," where more focus is placed on the private lives of leaders than the leadership characteristics that they possess (Burns, 2010). This personality cult has replaced in many ways the focus that once was on the leadership titans of history.
Because of the challenges faced by educational institutions, leaders in Educational Technology must step forward and adopt the responsibilities that come with the adoption of classical leadership characteristics. The digital leaders of today must focus on the traits and behaviors that will bring the outcomes that our institutions in general, and our learners in particular, need (Antonakis & Day, 2018).
The Importance of Planning in Digital Leadership
Leadership and planning must go hand in hand. A digital leader will not be able to successfully bring the desired institutional and learner outcomes without first establishing the vision and the strategic plan required (Sheninger, 2014). Without planning, a vision, no matter how grand, cannot lead towards the desired outcomes. Planning provides the traction and direction as we move towards accomplishing the objects that will create a culture focused on the essential twenty-first century skills (Sheninger, 2014). As educational leaders, we must also be digital leaders, making sure our planning guides our institutions towards the development of twenty-first century skills in our learners.
Lessons Learned While Planning the Collaborative Technology Integration Plan
When developing the Collaborative Technology Integration Plan, it is clear that the mission and vision that guide the plan must be clearly expressed. This increases the potential of obtaining the buy-in of all the stakeholders involved. By obtaining this buy-in, the chance of the Technology Integration Plan being approved and then implemented is greatly increased.
This leads to another important point: the makeup of the technology committee established to implement the plan. It is important to attempt to have key stakeholders and decision makers on the actual committee. This will increase their stake in having the plan implemented. It also helps in making the required financial and time resources available.
Another characteristic that is important in planning the Collaborative Technology Integration Plan in the use of clear SMART goals. SMART goals allow all stakeholders to understand how the mission statement and vision will be actualized in the day to day experiences of the administrator, staff, and learner. The SMART goal is where the vision is implemented in time and space. SMART goals also help to show how we know if we have been successful, or if we have fallen short of our objective.
Involvement of a Wide Range of Stakeholders in the Technology Implementation Plan
Properly designed and implemented, a Technology Implementation Plan affects all educational stakeholders, from administrators, staff, instructors, learners, parents, and more. Emerging technologies continue to have an almost immeasurable disruptive impact on all areas of education (Whitehead, Jensen, & Boschee, 2013). It is difficult to name a group of stakeholders who will not be impacted in some what by the technology implementation plan. Because of this, it is important to have representatives of the many various and diverse groups of stakeholders who are involved in the education of the institution. Also, as mentioned earlier, having the various key stakeholder groups involved directly with the implementation of the Technology implementation plan in will increase the support of key stakeholder and decision makers.
Cooperation vs. Collaboration
For a Technology Implementation Plan to be successful, but cooperation and collaboration are important. For those who are part of the implementation committee, who have a more direct involvement in the many various working parts of the Technology Implementation Plan, collaboration is essential. For those with such direct involvement, cooperation is not enough.
There is a tendency in education for there to be a move from collaboration to cooperation. Either from loss of interest in the project, other competing priorities, or just program fatigue, some important stakeholders may move from being keys collaborators to just offering their cooperation. It is here where the leadership qualities of the digital leader play an important part in returning those affected back from just being cooperative to being key collaborators in the Technology Implementation Plan. The Digital Leader will be called on to use every tool at their disposal to encourage the team collaboration that is necessary for the success of the plan.
Skills Required to Complete the Technology Implementation Plan and Screencast
There is a form of leadership that is often overlooked or underappreciated. I call it internal leadership or leading yourself. Some find it easier to lead other towards objectives. Others may find it easier to focus on oneself in accomplishing objectives. The internal and external leadership are both important and were required for successful completion of this project.
For example, as I worked on this project by myself, I was not able to depend on others to force the accomplishment of required milestones as required. I was not able to depend on others to step in when I lacked a specific knowledge or skill. I was required to lead myself both in terms of time management and knowledge/skills development.
This is a form of leadership (e.g., internal or self-leadership) that is important life. I have found that without the foundation of internal self-leadership (often displayed through the development of grit and a growth mindset), successful external leadership is often short-lived. Part of that is the important of leading by example, staying organized, and leading yourself to stay focused on the tasks at hand. A leader who cannot first lead themselves in such ways will find it difficult to command the following of others.
Education Technology Tools and Skills
In creating the Technology Implementation Plan and screencast, I made use of various technology tools and applications. In order to create the plan, I organized my thoughts using the outlining feature of Microsoft Word. I used Word's collaborative feature to share the outline for peer-to-peer feedback from a co-worker. I bring up Word here as some of the basic tools we use every day (word processing, email, spreadsheets, graphic, presentation) we have a tendency to take for granted. But these "simple" tools have become some commonplace that it is often forgotten that these are technology tools also. Having become so commonplace, their history and evolution are commonly under appreciated.
Can it be said that the technology tools that are growing in use today in education (video teleconferencing, digital textbooks, online learning experiences, just-in-time personalized training) will become the "Microsoft Words" of tomorrow in the sense that they will become so commonplace in their use, that users will just take their existence and functionality for granted?
Using the Information Gained in this Course
As an Instructional Designer at the VA Acquisition Academy, I have various responsibilities. I am the Professional Development Curriculum Manager for all related courses in both the Warriors to Workforce (W2W) Program and the Acquisition Intern Program (AIP). I am also the classroom instructor for the professional development courses I manage for the W2W Program. Because of my background in educational technology (including Learning Management Systems) and software tools that are used in the design and creation of Sharable Content Objects (SCOs), I have been involved in transitioning the W2W and AIP from strict face to face (F2F) to blended learning environments.
The materials covered in this course have helped me promote plans to include a heighted level of education technology in our W2W and AIP learning environments. Putting together the technology implementation plan helped me to understand the many stakeholders involved in the process. It also reminded me (especially through the required text books and readings) and such technology implementation is not an option.
Conclusion
The 21st century workplace requires proficiency in digital literacy skills for professional success. In the global economic world in which our students will function upon graduation, proficiency in a growing pool of digital literary skills in not an option, but a requirement. As we continue to prepare students for their roles in this every changing world, it is important not only to transfer the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for success, but to provide a comfort level necessary to properly function in the increasingly virtual business world.
By making educational technology foundation to our learning experiences, we will not only be providing the tools needed for career success, but helping students to feel comfortable living and working in our ever-changing digital world.
References
Antonakis, J., & Day, D. (Eds.). (2018). The Nature of Leadership (Third ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Burns, J. (2010). Leadership. New York: Harper Perennial.
Sheninger, E. (2014). Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times. London: Corwin.
Whitehead, B., Jensen, D., & Boschee, F. (2013). Planning for Technology (2nd ed.). Thousands Oaks, CA: Corwin.