Lin Carver - Leading in the Digital Environment

Edited by Lin Carver
and Holly S. Atkins

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD
Lanham Boulder New York London

Published by Rowman & Littlefield

An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706

www.rowman.com

6 Tinworth Street, London SE11 5AL, United Kingdom

Copyright 2021 by Lin Carver and Holly S. Atkins

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Carver, Lin, 1955 editor. | Atkins, Holly S., 1958 editor.

Title: Leading in the digital environment : being a change agent / Edited by Lin Carver and Holly S. Atkins.

Description: Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, [2021] | Includes bibliographical references. | Summary: This book focuses on effective technology use and diffusion Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020048586 (print) | LCCN 2020048587 (ebook) | ISBN 9781475859225 (cloth) | ISBN 9781475859232 (paperback) | ISBN 9781475859249 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Educational leadershipData processing. | EducationEffect of technological innovations on. | Educational technology.

Classification: LCC LB2806.17 .L42 2021 (print) | LCC LB2806.17 (ebook) | DDC 371.33dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020048586

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020048587

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.481992.

This book is dedicated to all the leaders who make a difference in the lives of students every day.

I have a question for you, the principal casually asked one of her teachers as they walked away from bus duty. Theres teachers in the school using tech in great ways. How do you get everybody on board? Perhaps that question resonates with you. Much has been written on the subject of technology diffusion, the process where the enthusiasm and practices of early adopters spread to others. While elements of diffusion are woven within this text, the central focus is on the educational leader as a change agent.

In Preparing to Lead in a Digital Environment, we presented foundational principles and practices to support educational leaders in establishing K12 communities in which meaningful learning with technology happens. Leading in a Digital Environment builds upon that foundation to address the how and why of getting everybody on board. The two books can certainly be read as companion texts, but this is not a requirement. Readers of both texts will see similarities in terms of theoretical perspective and structural layout. Themes are recursive. Scenarios are presented to invite the reader into the shoes of fellow educational leaders. Activities end each chapter.

Your walk through this text does not need to follow a specific path. While the chapters are arranged in numerical order with a sense of how to unfold the topics to best benefit the reader, in reality the book chapters can be approached in whatever order suits the reader. Often, we gravitate to a chapter title that resonates with us and our current thinking or situation. We grow as technology leaders not through acquiring a discrete set of skills in a specific order of progression, and so the reader will find in these pages new insights from one chapter often picked up and connected to in another.

Heres what lies ahead. The book begins in chapters 1, 2, and 3 with invitations for teacher leaders to consider the foundational principles of school culture, digital access and ethics, and using technology to enhance professional learning. Chapters 4, 6, and 8 engage the reader in stepping into the K12 classroom to imagine environments in which technology furthers student achievement through writing and coding, as well as visual and auditory production. Chapters 5 and 9 focus on the affective aspects of technology leadership in considering the topics of digital wellness and the role of technology in enhancing social and emotional learning.

To guide the reader in their journey of preparing to lead in a digital age, a chapter compass may prove helpful. This compass leads the reader on a patterned path, a repeated structure. Each chapter begins with a real-world scenario, presented as an opportunity for the reader to step into the shoes of a fellow educational-leader facing familiar challenges of teaching and leading in a digital age. The scenario is extended beyond a brief vignette, serving as a thread to connect foundational principles to real-world applications. The scenarios also offer the reader the opportunity to deeply engage in the type of decision-making all effective leaders employ. This intentionality as a digital leader is particularly emphasized in these scenarios.

Each chapter concludes with a series of Reflect and Apply Activities designed to support our goal of a text that promotes the growth of the digital leader. The reader is encouraged to engage in those activities to deepen their understanding of theory in application.

Is there a right or wrong way to read a text? Of course not. As coeditors of a text filled with chapters written by coauthors, our collaborative nature is clear. And so yes, we could see the text as part of a professional learning community. We hope the scenarios woven throughout the text provide leaders with an important lens to reflect on their current practices and set goals for future ones. And yes, the text may be part of a course syllabus so that the classroom community forms the collaborative structure. But perhaps you pick up this text and read it on your own. The leaders in each chapter become your trusted companions. Walk their walk as you reflect on your own.

As coeditors of Leading in a Digital Age, we acknowledge that the text literally would not have been possible without our colleagues whose voices, expertise, and daily lived experiences as educational-leaders form the practitioner-based foundation of this book. We are grateful for their willingness to say yes to our gentle request to add one more item to their overflowing plates. Thank you, all.

Our most sincere thanks to Carlie Wall and the editorial staff for going above and beyond to make this book a success.

Holly S. Atkins, Nakita Gillespie, and Kimberly Higdon

Picture this: your distinct mandates a hot, new technical advancement meant to revolutionize education. They invest in equipment for all the classrooms and perhaps even a quick training session at the beginning of the school year. Teachers are not sold on the tool and are not willing or able to invest much time in investigating how to use it productively. By the end of the school year, perhaps a few teachers have embraced the technology, but for the most part, teachers have tried it once or twice and abandoned the new tool, or even worse, never opened the box of equipment, and the tools gather dust and take up space as they grow obsolete. Most likely, every experienced educator has witnessed this at least once.