Competency 12

Make appropriate use of technology.

Educational leaders must have the ability to:

• Use information technology.
• Make presentations at a distance.
• Keep pace with the use of new technology.
• Use managerial and productivity tools appropriately and efficiently.
• Understand social networking skills.

The use of technology to improve instruction and student learning is now evident in anecdotal and case study reports of the use of technology in educational institutions at both the P-12 and higher education levels. The George Lucas Foundation has captured many success stories of how educators have integrated technology in the curriculum. "When students learn through researching and completing projects, learning becomes rigorous, relevant, and personal. Integrate technology into the curriculum and student projects (and their voices) are heard around the world" (Getting Started: Students).

Technology Counts 04 reports that in 74 percent of U.S. schools, "at least 50% of teachers use the Internet for instruction" and there are 8.4 "students per Internet-connected computer in classrooms" (State Profiles).  At the higher education level, over 95 percent of all universities in the United States are now offering online courses. 
When computers and high-tech tools are used well, learners improve their thinking skills, teachers change the way they run their classrooms,  parents become more involved, and assessments reflect real-world activities.  (Fatemi) 

Recent legislative initiatives have provided mandates for "enhancing education through technology" (US Department of Education). As a result of these mandates, technology standards for students and teachers have been developed by such leading organizations as the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and the National Council of Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). The National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) provide grade-level technology standards for students and extensive ready-made curriculum plans to improve student learning through the use of technology. The NETS for teachers offer rubric-based technology standards to improve teachers' productivity and professional practice. Another professional organization, North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL), has invested federal technology funding to design the enGauge framework for more effective use of technology to improve instruction and student learning.

enGauge is charged with examining the professional practice of technology for teaching and learning. They report that "students are identifying and sharing their cultures with one another in ways that discover and affirm commonalties while simultaneously discovering breadth of diversities as positive opportunities to see and know the world in new ways. They are using new technologies as tools for knowing themselves in the process of knowing and understanding others" (Success Stories).
A recent study regarding  faculty perceptions on the integration of technology in higher education concludes that the "move toward integration of technology is obvious and most apparent through the creation of blended courses….Technology alone does nothing to enhance pedagogy: successful integration is all about the ways in which technology tools are used and integrated into teaching." (Georgina and Olson)

These findings and others open new questions related to twenty-first century technology skills, the digital age, and literacy. It is clear that future educational leaders at the P-12 and higher education levels must develop strategies to  improve professional practice leading to increased student learning through  technology-integrated curriculum, and must properly use technology to create, extend, and enhance  learning experiences.

References

North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL). Engauge: Essential conditions. Retrieved on September 14, 2004, from http://www.ncrel.org/engauge/framewk/sitemap.htm.

Georgina, D. and Olson, M. (2007), Integration of technology in Higher Education: A review of Faculty Self-Perceptions. Internet and Higher Education 11, (2008),  1-8.

Fatemi, E. High-tech pathways to better schools. Education Week on the Web. Retrieved September 29, 2004, from http://www.edweek.org/sreports/tc98/cs/cs-n.htm.

George Lucas Foundation. Getting started: Students. Retrieved on September 29, 2004, from http://glef.org/getstarted/students.php.

National Technology Standards. International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). Retrieved on September 29, 2004, from http://www.iste.org/standards/.

State Profiles: United States. Special Reports: Education Week on the Web. Retrieved on September 28, 2004, from http://www.edweek.org/sreports/tc04/article.cfm?slug=35sos
_notes.h23#vital.

North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL). Success stories. Retrieved on September 29, 2004, from http://www.ncrel.org/engauge/framewk/efp/align/
efpalisu.htm.

US Department of Education. Overview: No child left behind. Retrieved September 27, 2004, http://www.ed.gov/nclb/overview/intro/presidentplan/pagepg11.htm
#technology