Administrator Technology Standards

We (the instructional technology specialists in my district) have been asked to establish Administrator Technology Standards for our district with self-assessment tools in order to help the administrators set their technology growth goals in the fall. We will then provide follow-up, trainings and support to allow them to achieve these goals.
We have asked for this in one form or another for a couple of years and we have received the go ahead and support of our superintendent. Our (the tech dept) goals include helping our leaders move into the 2.0 world and to help them see the need and have the skills to truly impact our students.
Where would you start? What would you do? What have you done? Any advice?

Tags: administration, standards

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Permalink Reply by Nadine Norris on July 23, 2007 at 6:34am

What a daunting task! I'm sure you've already looked at this, but ISTE has a link to Technology Standards for Administrators http://cnets.iste.org/tssa/. The standards are developed with many educational groups. "TSSA Standards Initiative are committed to supporting the standards by providing expertise in the development and refinement of the standards, assistance in disseminating the standards, and support in implementing the TSSA Standards." I think using these standards for a foundation helps with credibility, with so much support from administrators across the country. If your administrators already meet those standards, it'll be much easier for them to move into the 2.0 world.

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Permalink Reply by Nadine Norris on July 25, 2007 at 11:36am

It's really hard to impose a vision to an administrator. They either have it or they don't. Just the fact that you've been asked to put this together must mean that they have one. I think the resources that Scott is putting together are amazing. The information that is available in terms of the research and the impact of technology is really compelling. Just to look at the videos from Karl Fisch is enough to motivate any caring educator.

In my previous position, my principal had tremendous vision. She really understood best practices and had extremely high expectations. The teachers moved forward because of she held them accountable. I don't know how that could happen if the teachers were the driving force, rather than the administration. When you were a teacher, did you feel supported and/or respected, or did you sometimes find yourself in an uphill battle?

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Permalink Reply by Scott McLeod on July 23, 2007 at 11:21am

Ashlyn, see the work we're doing at CASTLE:

http://www.schooltechleadership.org/kleaders

Drop me a note at mcleod@iastate.edu if you'd like to chat about your new training program!

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Permalink Reply by Connie Weber on July 23, 2007 at 1:58pm

One thing I would do is have the administrators view the kids' work regularly, and talk to the kids about their work.
Beyond that, I'd ask the administrators to set personal goals for growth in technology, and have them meet with students for learning sessions in whatever technology they want to learn, as in "be tutored." It's good modeling, good sharing, and a win-win for all, if approached with open minds, ready to learn. I've found that small steps in a personalized context really add up over the long run. Fear gets reduced, inquisitiveness increases, laughter rings out. Keep it personal, nurture the growth tenderly.
Give examples of goals ahead of time: for instance, you could choose to investigate how iMovies are made, what can be done with podcasts, how teachers connect in social-professional networks. Have a list of choices, as many won't know what's possible.
Hope that helps a bit--

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Permalink Reply by Marian Thacher on September 23, 2007 at 1:34am

Starting with the basics is good, and the CASTLE program list of courses suggested by Scott McLeod could be helpful in thinking about what the issues are. But what Web 2.0 tools are important for administrators? My list includes blogs, RSS feeds, Google docs & spreadsheets & slides, social networking.

What would you add?