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Whenever I go into a school and they ask me what is needed to create a successful educational technology program, I tell them you need three things: resources, engaged teachers, and supportive leadership. These three items are the fertile ground in which a school can plant the strategy, IT infrastructure, learning outcomes, instructional activities, and measures of impact needed to build success with technology for learning.

Resources are vital because EdTech is tool- and system-reliant. This doesn’t mean that schools need to focus on quantities of technology or ubiquitous access to be successful. In fact, I have seen impactful programs in schools with limited budgets using only the technology at hand with the students. What sets these programs apart is that they have clearly identified the resources available and they have learned how to leverage their learning potential.

Engaged teachers are equally important as the teachers are where the rubber hits the road in technology for learning. Their engagement in professional learning, planning, and instructional activities will determine the impact on students and realized value of computers in the classroom. Without engaged and supported teachers, no amount of resources or leadership planning will gain traction in the learning experiences of the students.

These two critical factors – resources and engaged teachers – are heavily influenced by supportive leadership. Supportive leadership will find, organize, and grow the technology resources available for a school. Supportive leadership will provide clarity of purpose and vision for success which often results in greater engagement from teachers who understand the direction they are being asked to go. Supportive leadership is what initiates EdTech programs, gets them off the ground, and keeps them running after the initial phases. Supportive leadership is explicit in its backing of the efforts of the teachers and students.

Of course, this begs the question: how does leadership show its support of EdTech in school? The most effective ways come through offering resources, time, language and recognition.

Resources

The staff and school community know that school leadership use resources to enhance specific aspects of the school’s program. By allotting resources towards the access to technology and professional learning for teachers, leadership will show its tacit and lived support for educational technology. Teachers will be able to use these resources, with the implied call to action, to build technology rich lessons that enhance learning for all students. However, resource-based support can be quite dangerous if done without strategy or sustainability. Supportive leadership must develop a clear and transparent strategy for the allocation and usage of resources for them to be used effectively for learning. Further, by following the common mistake of only allotting resources at the beginning of a program rather than on a perpetual timeline, support will be viewed as fleeting or non-committal when it comes time to renew or refresh.

Of course, a key form of resource-based support comes through budgeting. Professional learning, access to technology, sustainability, and proper assessment of the impact of educational technology on the school should be found easily within the school’s budget. Regular line items that reflect the ongoing learning and operational needs should be in the expense budget and the capital budget should contain regular technology purchases for expansion or refresh. And supportive leadership will always show financial commitment to technology by fully funding its depreciation.

Time

The resource most valuable way to demonstrate support for EdTech initiatives is time. Leadership has the ability reserve, find, and even make time for teachers to focus on the teaching and learning aspects of educational technology. The most supportive leaders of EdTech will carve out formal and informal time for teachers to learn and collaborate. In formal sessions, teachers will develop new technology or pedagogic skills or author technology-enhanced curriculum. During informal sessions, teachers will collaborate to share and collaborate on best practices in their classrooms. By providing this time separate from required staff meetings and administrative tasks, leadership will demonstrate its academic and operational priority of teachers using technology effectively.

Language

However, school leadership is not simply a planning or resource allocation activity. It is one of outward demonstration of vision and priorities within a school. Good leaders, beyond technology, will embed what is important to the school in every conversation and school communication. The same applies to supporting EdTech. Supportive leaders will talk about the value of technology for learning and the school’s plans for implementing it effectively when talking inwardly and outwardly. They will use proper terminology when talking about technology-based instruction and be able to identify the key leverage points for EdTech in the school. By using words to show support, the community will see the value of technology for learning embedded in the school ethos and they will begin to look for, and expect to find, it in the actions taken by teachers and students.

Recognition

Finally, leadership can use their language to give specific and powerful support to their engaged teachers. Those who have worked in schools know that financial incentives have little effect on the engagement or impact of teachers. Instead, what motivates teachers to do the best is the belief they are doing work of value. Leadership can honor and support this value through formal recognition. Recognition in the context of EdTech can come in a number of ways; highlighting a successful project, celebrating a certification attained by a group of teachers, publicizing conference presentations by staff, or giving certain teachers additional roles and responsibilities within the EdTech program. And given these are technology-based recognitions, they can be done through school communications, Twitter feeds, or during staff meetings.

By showing implicit and explicit support of teachers and EdTech in the school, leaders are the tipping point for immediate and sustained success for technology in a school.

The post How Do Leaders Support EdTech Initiatives? appeared first on The International EdTech Blog with Matt Harris Ed.D..

A few years ago, my wife had the pleasure of attending a leadership workshop at Disneyland. She and her team got to learn about the management protocols, leadership styles, and data analytics that Disney uses to maximize guests’ experience in its parks.

One tidbit stood out to me when she described her time there (and it wasn’t that she saw Johnnie Depp dressed as Jack Sparrow running around the park). She mentioned that Disney had done an extensive study on littering. Through data analysis from multiple source and long-term observation they had determined that guests will walk no more than 27 paces before throwing trash on the ground. As a result, they had strategically placed their trash cans no more than 27 apart throughout the park.

This story grabbed me because it has application in schools. Instead of trash cans and litter, it fits quite nicely with printers. And despite what you think or feel about printing, printers play a vital role in our schools.

Now, let me clarify something: I hate printing. I hate the fact that our schools are so reliant on printers to share information and display student work. I hate that we use printed materials when our collaborative technology tools offer so much more in terms of flexibility and interaction. I hate the amount of money wasted on papers, materials and machines. I hate the environmental impact of printing. I hate the fact we pay through the nose for ink after we sign up for such a great deal on our printers. I hate that despite the prevalence of technology in our schools we have actually increased our printing. And most of all, I hate the fact that I know just how vital printing and printers are to the success of our educational technology endeavors.

A colleague of mine recently confirmed a suspicion many of us in EdTech have had for years: printers are the glue that keep tech programs together. Through research into teacher attitudes towards technology, he was able to correlate a teacher’s perception about the reliability of his or her nearest printer with his or her willingness to engage in new educational technology programs. This means that if a teacher feels his or her printer is not in good working order he or she will not engage in the school’s educational technology program. In short, regardless of the planning, strategy, resources, or support a school puts into it technology, if the printer doesn’t print the way the teacher needs it to, those effort will have no effect.

This puts immense pressure on our school in the care and feeding of their printers.

However, printing is not a simple “works vs. doesn’t work” binary. Instead it is a complex aspect in a school that encompasses variables such as “color vs. black and white,” speed and print quality, downtime, location, “personalized vs. shared devices”, print centers, and ease of use.

My recommendation for every school is to take a deep look into their printing. They need to understand how the aforementioned variables play out in their settings and how to adjust them for the best experience by teachers and to meet the needs of the organization.

Let’s talk about the machines themselves. Does each teacher or group of classes need a single printer? More often than not, the answer is no. These individual devices, though very personal to a teacher, are costly and unreliable. Most teachers realize that a personal printer is a luxury that isn’t in the best interest of the school. Instead, schools should look into Multi-Function Devices (MFDs). MFDs are the latest iteration of the copiers of old. Now they copy, scan, store documents, and print all from a teacher’s individual computer. These devices, when places strategically (think about Disney’s 27 pace rule) meet the needs of teachers while being cost effective and reliable. They also allow a teacher to print wherever they are on campus, not just to the personal printer in their classroom. Though word to wise, never buy an MFD. Always lease them with a guaranteed service and replacement contract.

What about volume and quotas? This is a common discussion point in schools as we hope to move more content to online platforms. Should a school place printing quotas on its teachers? As long as quotas are fair and transparent, teachers will see their value in mitigating costs and protecting the environment.

Last, we need to talk about color. Experience shows the teachers love having color printing at their fingertips, especially in primary schools. Is color printing necessary though? I have found there is no simple answer to this question. Some schools make great us of color to plaster the walls with evidence of student learning and progress. Whereas others waste money, paper, and time by over-relying on color copies. This is a decision that a school has to make on its own.

Regardless, printing and the printers are items of the IT remit that need robust measurement and tracking. Schools that are most successful have a clear budget for devices and consumables that is reviewed regularly to identify the value for teaching and learning while mitigating cost and the environmental effect. These schools also use print data to maximize efficiency and to improve the reliability of the devices. And experience has shown that most of these schools also have teachers with greater trust in technology overall which results in some interesting enhancements to student learning.

The post Does the Printer Even Work? appeared first on The International EdTech Blog with Matt Harris Ed.D..