Reflection #1 - Digital Leadership

In Digital Leadership, author Eric Sheninger outlines the ways in which he forged his own path toward becoming a digital leader so that it might be easier for those who follow him. He illustrates how technology is not just about the digital device itself, but about the mindset of the leader as well. True digital leaders look for ways to connect their schools (staff and students like) with the real world in as many meaningful ways as possible and he provides a plethora of information on how to do that.

Sheninger outlines 7 Pillars of Digital Leadership that are crucial for administrators to be successful. One of the most powerful moments for me in the reading was when I read about the different ways that social media can be utilized to create two-way communication amongst all of the stakeholders of a school. Using Twitter, Facebook, Instagram (or any other social media platform) to post information about the school not only disseminates information in a quick and easy way, but is also a powerful tool for getting that positive PR and school branding out there! And since nearly everyone accesses some form of social media, you are likely to get more stakeholder involvement than a simple weekly or monthly newsletter can provide.

Two more important Pillars that Sheninger describes are student engagement and professional development. Because of this, and other reading we’ve done in this course, I have been thinking about our own 1:1 iPad roll out that is happening in phases over the next couple of years. To be honest, I don’t think there has been nearly enough preparation and purposeful professional development done at the district level to adequately prepare teachers for it beyond the traditional introduction to the device itself. There has been little to no conversation about the vast amount of ways that teachers can use the device to connect their students to the world in a way that can’t be done with paper and pencil (or frankly, how they can use it to connect to the world themselves). It has me thinking about how I can, as a teacher leader and eventual administrative intern in my building, create and provide this professional development at the building level to make sure that teachers at my school are prepared and ready to go. For example, teaching my teachers how to use social media to create and connect with their own personal PLN that extends beyond our school and district.

I think my own personal favorite of the Pillars was the re-envisioning of learning spaces. Obviously not everyone can go out and build a new school modeled after Clark Hall, but there are definitely things we can do within the own constructs of our buildings to make it work better for us in the digital age. For some of us that might mean rearranging things in the school to make it more open and bright. For others it might mean providing greater access to choice for students. For most of us, it will require a shift from teacher as purveyor of knowledge to teacher as facilitator. And for all of us, it should mean infusing fun into everything we teach! For me personally, I already have the wheels turning about how I can use technology (and other materials) to give my students next year plenty of opportunities to be creative – to let their passion be their guide and to let that passion take them wherever it needs to. Using this next year as a model, I’m already thinking that Genius Hour (or something like it) might be a pet project that I take on school-wide as I complete my internship the following year.

Sheninger gave me a lot to think about and I am excited to get started!