The Technological Knowledge Gap: What Schools Leaders Need to Know

Transcript
EdWeek.Org’s Weekly Online Chat

January 31, 2008

The Technological Knowledge Gap:
What Schools Leaders Need to Know

Michelle Davis (Moderator):

Welcome to today’s online chat, a follow­up to a story in the most recent issue of
Education Week’s Digital Directions about the technological knowledge gap that exists
among school leaders. Following the chat, I’d encourage you to go to
www.digitaldirections.org to read the story. We have a lot of good questions waiting to
be answered so let’s get the discussion started.

Question from Jon Becker, assistant professor, Virginia Commonwealth University:
How do we convince sitting school administrators that they need to change or pay
attention without sounding preachy or condescending?

Keith R. Krueger:
First, I think we ask administrators what issues "keep them up at night". How is the world
changing and how is their job as a school administrator changing. That is how CoSN
believes we have to start the conversation. It has to be relevant to real concerns. Second,
it cannot be "technology" advocates over­hyping the situation and telling administrators
they need to change. Administrators need to hear from their peers about what has worked
for them and why they should care. NOTE: As the Metiri Group found when looking at
research on impact of tech in education, we (the ed tech community) has too often "over­
promised" what will happen with technology.
http://www.cisco.com/web/strategy/docs/education/
TechnologyinSchoolsReport.pdf They also found that with appropriate vision and
adequate professional development, technology can be a powerful, transformative tool.
Third, we need to get the professional associations of administrators (principal and supts)
at state and national level leading this conversation. I think that many of those
associations have not known how to have this conversation. CoSN is thinking about how
to help start a conversation between school administrators who are not primarily
responsible for technology but critical for making technology use in education
transformative.

Question from Kurt Steinhaus, Past­President, International Society for Technlogy
in Education:
Where are the best online learning sites and what are the most appropriate "courses" for
Superintendents to learn about technology in education?

Scott McLeod:

I'm not quite sure what you mean by the best online learning sites. When I was at the
University of Minnesota, we had a series of graduate level technology leadership courses
that educators all across the country took. We will get those up and running again here at
Iowa State University. They will all be online and available to anyone across the globe.
There are a few other universities that are working hard to help school administrators
understand these technological revolutions. If you go to the CASTLE website and click
on higher education, you can see who we have been working with. Drop me an e­mail ­
mcleod@iastate.edu ­ for more specific information on this issue (i.e. course options).

Question from Frank J. Hagen, Adjunct Professor ­ Wilmington University:
As schools utilize more computers as learning tools for students and teachers such as the
many 1:1 computer laptop initiatives, how will this impact the primary
observation/evaluation responsibilities of a building principal for school improvement?

Keith R. Krueger:
If you are specifically asking about role of principal in the future, I would suggest
checking out the work the National Assn. of Elementary School Principals is doing...I
believe it is called Vision 2020. You can find this at www.vision2021.org. They have a
variety of scenarios and technology has a huge role in the change that will come in
schools. Even in the "most conservative" scenarios, education will fundamentally change
in the near term future looking ten years out. The critical role of the principal in
successful use of technology is very clear. Research from around the world (Hong Kong,
Singapore, UK, and the US) clearly demonstrates that technology only succeeds when the
building leader (e.g. ­ principal) embraces it. Otherwise the technology is not scalable or
sustainable. CoSN has recently done some interesting work comparing highly
technology­intensive schools in U.S. vs. Australia vs. Britain. In all cases the role of the
principal/headmaster was critical. HOWEVER, we also found that the principal did NOT
need to the expert. The role of setting the vision rests with the principal, but even in
highly tech­intensive sites, they are not the expert. That research will be highlighted at
our upcoming annual conference through our Calculating the Value of Investing (VoI)
initiative. www.edtechvoi.org website explains the concept. Conference information is at
www.k12schoolnetworking.org

Question from Thomas J. Costello ­ Science Supervisor ­ High Point Regional High
School:
Is a small cohort of teachers a good place to start the technological revolution in our
school?

Scott McLeod:
It's as good a place to start as any. Teachers never listen to anyone besides each other
anyway [wink]. I'd try get at least one administrator type on board so they can see what
neat stuff is occurring. Try to set up some regular sharing sessions to spark others'
thinking about the power and potential of some of these tools. Models and examples are
going to be critically important.

Question from Frank J. Hagen, Adjunct Professor ­ Wilmington University:

Given all that is currently on the plate of the building principal as the "instructional
leader"(IL)and "lead learner"(LL) in a school, what type of professional development is
necessary for the principal to now become the "chief digital officer"(CDO)of a school to
successfully prepare students for the 21st Century?

Keith R. Krueger:
Before we get to professional development, lets define what are the "essential skills" of
administrators that we want them to know. CoSN, in partnership with ISTE, NSBA, and
others, created the Technology Standards for School Administrators a number of years
ago. http://www.ncrtec.org/pd/tssa/tssa.pdf (NOTE: ISTE has rebranded these as NETS­
A, but content is same) These are specifically the skills we believe that principals and
superintendents, and other district education admininstrators who are not in charge of
technology need to know. I think the challenge we face is that if principals and
superintendents are told this is "one more thing to do", it will not happen. And, frankly,
the education technology community has failed in thinking that principals,
superintendents and other administrators will come to us to learn this new competency.
Too often, PD has spoken to these key education leaders as if they are the technology
leader...they are not. For that reason, CoSN is currently working on a forthcoming
initiative for superintendents called "Empowering the 21st Century Superintendent"
(preview at CoSN annual conf in March, and released March 31st at NSBA annual in
Orlando). In order to understand the challenges faced by superintendents and to develop
targeted support services, CoSN has engaged in multiple conversations with
superintendents across the country to understand the current landscape and issues around
the use of technology in schools today. Some of these superintendents came to their
current job after serving in technology leadership positions; others describe themselves as
“non­techies” who came more recently to their understanding of the importance of
technology in education. It is interesting to note that the common belief shared by the
superintendents we interviewed is similar to the findings of the 2007 Education Week's
“Technology Counts” report – that technology can help the mission and business of
education but that school systems, for the most part, are not where they need to be with
almost every aspect of technology utilization. As a result of the interviews and
discussions with superintendents, five key themes emerged that highlight the role
technology can play in education, school improvement and professional development.
The superintendents we spoke with generally agreed that technology can: • Strengthen
District Leadership and Communications; • Transform Pedagogy with Compelling
Learning Environments; • Raise the Bar with 21st Century Skills; • Support Professional
Development and Communities of Practice; • Create Balanced Assessments. I believe
that if we focus on these "educational" (not technology) challenges, we can get the
attention of principals and superintendents, and work with their professional associations
at state and national level to start a new conversation.

Question from Tracy Standhart, teacher, Schenectady City School District, NY:
Scott, your information is extremely valuable. How can we let people in administrative
and leadership positions know what they don't know?

Scott McLeod:

I think we have to create some cognitive dissonance using videos, reports, etc. that
highlight the gaps between where schools are and where schools need to be. See the
videos and handouts section of our Moving Forward wiki:
http://movingforward.wikispaces.com. Videos like Did You Know? 2.0 and others help
with this. Also check out the materials from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. They
have a lot of great information that can be helpful. Once we create some cognitive
dissonance, then we have to help them understand how technology can help close the
dissonance and close those gaps. It's not the solution for every problem that schools face.
But it has to be a key part of the overall solution rather than marginalized or optional like
it is now.if you go to my blog, dangerously irrelevant, and click on the top post button on
the right, you'll also find material that should be helpful to you.

Question from Amy Jaramillo, Teacher, Truth or Consequences Middle School:
How much should a school leader know? Hardware, networking, software, educational
application of specific programs?

Scott McLeod:
I don't think that administrators have to be very hardware or software savvy to be
effective technology leaders. That said, I do think there's a role for administrators to be
role models for their teaching staff. Walking the walk is more effective than simply
talking the talk. Of course, often I'd settle for just talking the talk. Since in many places
we don't even have that. I often advocate that principals and superintendents model
lifelong learning by taking on a new technology tool and visibly struggling with and
succeeding with that to their staff.

Question from Laurie Sanders­MacVittie, Program Manager for Learning
Resources, CABOCES, New York:
I love the question in your article that challenges us to ask, “What does it (technology)
enable us to do that we couldn’t do before?”. I believe the answer to that is simple in
education. The delivery of instruction can change from being teacher centered to being
student centered. I could go on, but my question is this: How can we help teachers and
school leaders understand that student­centered learning is more meaningful for the
student and more relevent in our society today?

Keith R. Krueger:
Great question. First, I think as educators we need to ask "who are our customers?"...a
question many educators hate. While schools have many "customers" (parents,
community, business, etc.), fundamentally the core audience is the student. If we focus on
the student, we need to look at what they need to succeed in a highly competitive world.
What skills do they need? What kind of educational environment will enable them to be
prepared for the future? I also think educators and policymakers need think about what is
the most powerful things that technology enables in a learning environment. You call it
student­centered. I would say it is enabling a personalized learning (which, of course, is
student­centered). Great teaching has always been about pushing each child to their
greatest ability. But, when you are standing before 20, or 25 or 30+ students, you have to
"teach to the average". How can we use technology to enable the teacher and the learning

to help each child to move at their best pace. For example, kids generally love computer
games. Those games don't get easier as the kid accomplishs something...in fact, as soon
as you reach that level it takes to you to next harder level. How can we do that in a
learning enviroment so that we are pushing each kid on to things they don't know and
encouraging them to higher order thinking? Technology has transformed every other
industry sector...but education lags. In a study by the U.,S. Depart of Commerce about 3
years ago, they ranked 55 industry sectors by "IT­intensiveness" (Digital Economy
2003). Guess what, education was rock­bottom at number 55. Education is LESS
technology intensive than coal mining! Next time your school board or the media or
cynics ask why "technology hasn't changed anything in education", refer them to this
study. Yes, we schools are spending more on technology than a decade ago, but
proportionately it is lagging behind every other sector.

Question from Victoria Pilotti, Secondary Schools Mentor, NYCDOE:
At the school level, are principals willing to hire a full­time technology expert to be
available to install technology and troubleshoot and support staff when systems fail? I
observed more effective and widespread use of technology in schools with staff who had
exclusive tech support duties in contrast with staff who taught part of the time.

Scott McLeod:
Support options very widely. Like I'm guessing that you do, I wish that more schools had
full­time tech support, not only for keeping the boxes up and running but also regarding
technology integration. We see much better technology usage from teachers when they
can count on ongoing, just­in­time integration support.

Question from Steve:
How does the education system get educational leaders to focus their energy on what they
need to do to improve rather than focusing their energy on how teachers need to
improve?

Scott McLeod:
I'm not sure it does. School administrators are tugged in a number of different dirrections
both within their organizations and from outside constituencies. It's very difficult for an
educational leader, whether it be a principal or superintendent, to have a sustained focus
on self­improvement and on school improvement rather than on crisis management and
reactive action.

Question from Jennette Kane, Technology Integration Supervisor, Orange City
Schools:
I agree that Superintendents should have a good understanding of how technology can
impact the instructional process but maybe another question to consider is what about
hiring more technology coordinators who have an educational background?

Keith R. Krueger:
I think the role of a Chief Technology Office in a school district (which I define more
broadly than tech coordinator) is where I believe supts should be thinking about if they

want to powerfully use technology. CoSN has laid out this vision called The Highly
Qualified CTO which includes an overview of standards, education and support for
district technology leaders. A free Executive Summar is a
http://www.cosn.org/resources/compendium/2007Summaries/
thehighlyqualifiedCTO.pdf and the full document can be purchased at
https://my.cosn.org/mycosn/store/?storecat=2007%20Compendium I think there has been
a false dichotomy in most school districts which pits Administrative vs. Instructional
technology. In fact, most businesses, hospitals, universities and other leaders don't make
this sort of biforcation. You are right that we need technology leaders who understand
teaching and learning. But, they also need and understanding of how we make the entire
enterprise of education to work better. That means a horizontal view of technology ­­
technology is not "one more department", but should be seen as a cross­cutting enabler
for everything the district is trying to accomplish. This vision requires new skills and new
sorts of leaders at the cabinet level of our districts.

Question from Lee Allen, Asst. Prof., Univ. of Memphis:
As a former district technology administrator, I saw the compartmentalization of
"instructional technology" as the biggest obstacle to allowing students to truly utilize 21st
century tools and skills. What will it take for Curriculum & Instruction divisions in
school districts to simply incorporate technology in the implementation of ALL aspects
of the curriculum, and train teachers accordingly? Of course, teacher preparation
programs should do the same.

Scott McLeod:
1. Getting the leadership on board that this is important. 2. A radical shift in the basic
educational paradigm ­ what is school all about 3. Academia is more resistant than K­12.
Good luck. Don't hold your breath for any of these in the near future. What will cause
these to happen is public outrage and pressure on school boards and policymakers that
their children aren't being adequately prepared for the digital, global economy. That
groundswell hasn't occurred yet but we need to keep feeding it so that it eventually does.
One of the best things you can do: show the Did You Know? 2.0 video to a bunch of
parents and then discuss their reactions to the video and their feelings about their local
schools' preparation effort.

Question from Dale Bendsak Morris County School of Technology:
I believe one way for superintendents and principals to gain knowledge would be to form
an advisory council of industry professionals that advise them of skills needed by
students and trends in the global workplace. What do you think of this idea?

Keith R. Krueger:
I think it is a great idea, and (in fact) the research proves it. In 2004 CoSN surveyed
technology leaders and found that 2/3rds of districts had flat or declining technology
budgets. http://www.cosn.org/resources/grunwald/index.cfm When we disaggretated the
data between the majority of districts with flat/declining budgets for tech vs. those with
increasing tech budgets, there were two key differences: 1) Vision/Leadership ­­ those
with increasing budgets could clearly articulate what they want to accomplish with tech

that impacts their mission. Their supt and school board were setting a vision. 2)
Community Involvement ­ districts where the community is supportive and involved in
setting tech priorities in educatation reported much higher budgets. Anecdotally I can
also tell you that when the CTO/district technology leader gets the local Chamber of
Commerce or Kiwana's involved in tech planning, the Supt. and School Board support
the budget. Having the business community make the recommendation for school tech
budget is the best way to get new resources. I strongly encourage tech advocates to have
kids do a presentation to the school board or chamber of commerce or even PTO's. Let
them tell the adults how important tech is to there life and ask them to compare how it is
used in­school vs. out­of­school. Trust me, you will get the resources if you mobilize kids
and the community (business, parents).

Question from Trisha Kniskern, Coordinator of Instructional Technology, Loveland
Schools, Ohio:
Can you please share some examples of school administrators who are using technology
to optimize teaching and learning in their districts/schools?

Scott McLeod:
Hi, Trisha! Hope all is well in Loveland! (Trisha is one of my former students in the
School Technology Leadership program; it's like Old Home Week around here!) There
are all of the usual suspects: Plano, TX; Lemon Grove, CA; Henrico County, VA.
They're the ones that get written up repeatedly because they're ALWAYS on the cutting
edge. Although they'd be the first to admit that they still struggle, they seem to have
figured this out for the most part. eSchoolNews' annual list of Tech­Savvy
Superintendents is a good place to find powerful leadership occurring. Of course, the
ongoing stories in Education Week and its new publication, Digital Directions (nod to our
chat sponsor!), about technology are good places to find pockets of innovation, as are
various reports from CoSN, ISTE, and SETDA. Converge and T.H.E. Journal and other
magazines of this ilk are often where I find stories about interesting activity that's
occurring. Plus there's the edublogosphere!

Question from Gayle Cole, Center for Early Education, Instructional Technology
Facilitator:
Do you think there is a new administrative role emerging? I am thinking of independent
schools / private schools and the role of someone who wants to lead in terms of
technology but does necessarily want to be a head of a school. It seems like a technology
director would be an important administrative role to add to the mix?

Keith R. Krueger:
Yes, absolutely. At the building level, we see more and more use (in successful
technology­rich environments) of instructional technology leaders. Often this is a 1/2
time responsiblity of a teacher to help other teachers. Hopefully this will increasingly be
seen as the responsibility of subject department heads. You also need to think about how
you provide tech support...essential for teachers/administrators to change the way they do
their job. Increasingly, this is done remotely with support lines and centralized networks.
And, you need leaders (principals, superintendents) who have a vision and lend their

cheer­leading role to transforming education. Technology is a natural way of getting to
new ways of doing things...hopefully in transformative, not just incremental, ways.

Question from Kim Desotell, Doctoral Student (UW­Milwaukee) and Consultant­
Wisconsin:
What is the most effective way to train school principals from the same district when you
have varied skill levels ranging from novice to expert all on the same leadership team?
Can you offer specific strategies for effective training models for this group of leaders?

Scott McLeod:
Hi Kim, this is a difficult question to answer without knowing more about your desired
outcomes from your training. For example, training that's designed to increase the
technology skills base of school leaders will look very different from training that's
designed to increase the technology leadership capacity of administrators. The former
focuses more on the technology side of things, the latter focuses more on the leadership
and people and organizational side of things. Of course we also have to take into account
the unique contexts of each organization, which will have a major impact on the design
and flavor of the training. Since I don't want to avoid your question completely, and so
far I've done that quite adeptly, I will note that the best starting place is wherever that
individual administrator is and working from there. If you have several administrators
who are at a similar place, then they can form a community of learners that can work on
something together. You don't want to teach to the middle, nor do you want to teach too
high or too low and lose part of the group. You know all this. I'm not telling you anything
that's real helpful here, other than to reiterate that a one­size­fits­all model never works.
Good luck!

Question from Dave:
Hi Scott. As a follow­up to Steve's question; what are higher educational institutions
doing to TRAIN their faculty & staff to better handle and/or have the knowledge to
prevent such crisis?

Scott McLeod:
Speaking for the teacher and administrator preparation programs in nearly all American
universities, little or nothing.

Question from Kathy Schwalbe, Program Manager, All Kinds of Minds:
From the perspectives of our guest speakers, what are some of the key technological
skills (and knowledge) our schools leaders need to know and be able to use right now?

Keith R. Krueger:
I previously answered a question about the skills that admininstrators (principals & supts)
need. So, I will now focus on the district technology leader/Chief Technology Officer. As
you may know, CoSN is the national association of these key technology leaders. For
over 15 years we have been building resources around the leadership skills needed by
district technology leaders. I hope you will look at CoSN's Framework of Essential Skills
for CTO's: 1. Leadership and Vision Works closely with the executive cabinet and

stakeholders to create a vision for how technology will support the district's strategic
goals. Knowledge or Skills Required: Ability to establish and lead governance
committees and facilitate the process of priority­setting and decision­making.
Interpersonal skills and a willingness to work closely with all constituents. Ability to
adapt known technologies to new uses and envision natural relationships between
emerging technology resources and the education process. Big­picture understanding of
school organization, of curriculum and of the issues of greatest importance to teaching
and learning. Understanding of the change process and effective approaches to
facilitating change. 2. Planning and Budgeting Works with the instructional and technical
teams to identify the steps needed to meet strategic goals and a budget that takes into
account the total cost of implementing technology solutions. Knowledge or Skills
Required: Ability to think strategically, manage projects, and lead the district from vision
to effective delivery of services. Ability to set practical and realistic timelines for
technology implementation. Understanding of the steps and financial tools involved in
the budgeting process. Strong working knowledge of the concept of total cost of
ownership and the ability to translate that into realistic budgets. Understanding of the
impact and need for technology throughout the enterprise ­ and the relationship between
curriculum, instruction and technology in providing a teaching and learning environment.
3. Team Building and Staffing Creates and supports cross­functional teams for decision­
making, technology support, professional development, and other aspects of the district's
technology program. Knowledge or Skills Required: Strong leadership skills and the
ability to empower others to assume leadership roles. Skills at facilitating team building
activities, modeling examples of trust between department members, and utilizing quality
improvement tools for decision­making. Ability to identify strengths and weaknesses and
make effective hiring decisions. Strong communication skills and a commitment to
keeping all parties informed about technology progress and choices. 4. Systems
Management Directs, coordinates, and ensures the implementation of all tasks related to:
the development of technical specifications and infrastructure decisions; the selection,
purchasing, installation and maintenance of IT; and the integration of technology into
every facet of operations. Knowledge or Skills Required: Knowledge and expertise about
infrastructure and performance standards for all aspects of the IT system. Strong
technical background accompanied by a personal commitment to ongoing research and
learning. Ability and willingness to hire skilled experts to support and oversee different
aspects of the IT program. Ability to make purchasing and implementation decisions
based on needs of the total school system ­ and on an understanding of the full life cycle
of technology purchases. 5. Information Management Oversees the establishment and
maintenance of systems and tools for gathering, mining, integrating and reporting data in
usable and meaningful ways. Knowledge or Skills Required: Understanding of data­
driven decision making and the role information needs to play in shaping and supporting
a district's educational programs. Understanding of techniques and tools for data
gathering, warehousing, and analysis ­ including a knowledge of available applications
and the options for customizing them or building new tools in­house. Knowledge of data­
related industry standards (eg., SIF and SCORM) and of governmental mandates (e.g.
NCLB or IDEA) with information reporting requirements. Ability to assess and respond
to the needs and concerns of a variety of knowledge workers. 6. Business Leadership
Serves as a strong business leader who guides purchasing decisions, assists in

determining the "return on investment" for all technology implementations, and fosters
good relationships with vendors, potential funders, and other key groups. Knowledge or
Skills Required: Comfort managing a budget, making purchasing decisions, and handling
the financial aspects of running an IT business. Knowledge about market rates for
technology equipment and services and the issues that determine ROI. Ability to direct,
manage, and negotiate with vendors and business partners. Strong communication skills,
the ability to build partnerships and articulate a vision for the district's technology
program. 7. Education and Training Budgets, plans for and coordinates on­going,
purposeful professional development for all staff using new technologies. Knowledge or
Skills Required: Current understanding of both technical and educational best practices
and the appropriate uses of technology to support high­caliber, rigorous student work.
Understanding of the key elements contributing to successful professional development.
Awareness of technology­related professional growth needs of all staff members ­
including administrators and support staff ­ and the ability to respond to these needs,
including providing "just in time" opportunities to remain current on technical content.
Ability to plan professional development activities that help teachers meet a wide range
of instructional goals for the district with help from interactive technologies. 8. Ethics
and Policies Oversees the creation, implementation and enforcement of policies and
educational programs related to the social, legal and ethical issues involved in technology
use throughout the district. Knowledge or Skills Required: Knowledge about laws and
legal issues related to copyright, privacy, filtering and other aspects of school technology
use. Awareness of other relevant issues including safety, technology­related health
concerns and guidelines for fair and ethical implementation of technology. Experience
with AUP development and enforcement. Commitment to modeling responsible
technology use and working closely with all constituents. 9. Communication Systems
Directs and coordinates the use of e­mail, district web sites, voicemail systems and other
forms of communication technology to facilitate decision­making, dialog and effective
communication with the community and other key stakeholders. Knowledge or Skills
Required: Working knowledge of various communication tools ­ including purchasing
options and technical issues related to implementation. Understanding of web design and
support issues and the staffing needed to keep district and school sites updated and
operational. Knowledge about converging technologies and new options for enhancing
communication through technology. Strong communication skills and the ability to
provide leadership to stakeholders in the utilization of communication resources.
http://www.cosn.org/resources/cto_council/framework.cfm A great way to get PD around
the above skills is to join CoSN www.cosn.org and attend our annual conference
www.k12schoolnetworking.org

Question from Cindi, Administrator, Washington DC:
I have been noticing a rise in schools providing virtual curriculum options for students,
where learning is taking place outside of the standard classroom environment, and self­
paced, independent learning is the new norm. Do you see this as a technolgy trend that
will continue to grow, and if so, how do you think this may impact the social part of
schooling? How can school leaders best prepare themselves for this shift?

Keith R. Krueger:

Yes, I think this is a major trend, especially "blended" strategies. Many
educators/policymakers think of virtual education as an "either/or" to traditional classes.
In fact, the fastest growing trend is having students take some courses online, but also be
in a traditional school. This enables the student to access classes that are not available
(not offered, inconvenient, etc.) to lots of students. It enables more 24/7 self­paced
learning. I think the best way for educators to understand "what works/what doesn't" in a
virtual learning environment is to take an online course. Experience it yourself.

Question from Jennette Kane, Technology Integration Supervisor, Orange City
Schools:
I agree that Superintendents should have a good understanding of how technology can
impact the instructional process but maybe another question to consider is what about
hiring more technology coordinators who have an educational background?

Scott McLeod:
Hi Jennette! Glad you could join us! (Jennette was one of our successful School
Technology Leadership graduates when I was at U. Minnesota. She's also a tech
powerhouse: one of NSBA's 20 to Watch for 2006!). I did a study a few years back for
NCREL that, among other things, looked at the backgrounds of district technology
coordinators all across the country. Most of them actually had an education background.
District headquarters were more likely to come up from the educator ranks in order to
from outside with an IT background. I think this is true because most districts are still
pretty small. It's the larger suburban and urban districts that tend to hire folks with IT
backgrounds. Obviously there is a lot of variation on this across the country. I do think
that someone with an education background is less likely to block and more likely to
enable than someone with an IT background, but I'm speaking very generally here. I
know a lot of very dedicated technology coordinators with IT backgrounds who are
working very hard to enable powerful educational opportunities for students and teachers.

Question from Reed Markham, Associate Professor, Daytona Beach College:
Could you describe some specific examples of the knowledge/skills gap and the impact
on schools? teachers? children?

Scott McLeod:
Hi Reed, see the Partnership for 21st Century Skills stuff. They do a much better job of
articulating this than I would. Also see this blog post of mine (and the reports I link to):
http://tinyurl.com/ywr644

Question from William F. Bertrand, Technology Education Advisor, Pennsylvania
Department of Education:
Are you aware of the Standards for Technological Literacy?

Keith R. Krueger:
You should read the excellent article in Jan. 30 issue of Education Week on this very
topic. Called "Tests of Tech Literacy Still Not Widespread Despite NCLB Goals", it
gives a very useful overview on the topic. Here is a short excerpt from the article: The

federal No Child Left Behind Act, signed into law six years ago, made it a national goal
for all 8th graders to be technologically literate. Unlike reading and math, though, tech
literacy does not factor into the law’s school accountability provisions, and most states do
not administer separate tech­literacy tests statewide. Still, at least one test­maker has seen
the NCLB goal as an opening and developed assessments of tech literacy for 8th graders.
Appropriately, those tests do use not paper and pencil, but instead are delivered to
students via computers. Learning.com, a privately held Portland, Ore.­based company,
has sold hundreds of thousands of its middle school version of TechLiteracy Assessment
since the test was launched in 2005. “I think we’re at the early stages of this market—
we’re just seeing a few of the early­adopter states that are doing an assessment [of tech
literacy],” said company spokesman Mark Tullis. The Educational Testing Service, the
Princeton, N.J.­based nonprofit testing giant that administers the SAT, has produced an
online version of a tech­literacy assessment called iSkills that is appropriate for high
school seniors and college freshmen, and another version for college juniors. Stephen
Denis, ETS’ iSkills product manager, said that the assessment is marketed only to
colleges and universities. He estimated that less than 5 percent of the roughly 15,000
iSkills tests that ETS has administered since the assessment was launched in 2005 were
taken by precollegiate students. Moreover, the company has no immediate plans to come
up with a test for 8th graders, the grade level specified in the NCLB law, said ETS
spokeswoman Karen Bogan.

Question from John Lewis:
As a person who trains principals one of the challenges we face is to change the paradigm
shift about technology from one of "hardware ­ software" to one of "learning, creativity,
and creation. One issue that has continually resurfaced is the expertise of most
technology coordinators. In brief, the coordinators are focused on issues of networking,
security, hardware, etc. (all important factors), but principals do not have anyone on staff
that can facilitate a conversation about learning with technology. The question that has
come forward is this: Is an entry point to sustainable change found not only in the
innovation of principal training and professional development ­ but also innovation in the
ways and credentials we expect from our district or school technology leaders?

Scott McLeod:
This is an interesting question. There isn't any official certification in most places for
district­ or building­level technology coordinators. The training that occurs at the
preservice level for principals and superintendents rarely, if ever, deals with technology­
related issues. Only a few universities have taken substantial steps to remedy this. Iowa
State University, where CASTLE and I are, is one of those places. See our higher
education partners at the CASTLE website for more. Generally speaking, less attention
has been paid to technology integration needs in schools compared to hardware and
network issues. It's like we magically expect our staffs to be able to use the stuff we buy.
Our professional development expenditures related to technology are pitifully low as well
as often poorly planned. I like the concept of creating a technology leader credential.
You'd have to decide who needed the credential. Is it technology coordinators? Is it
principals? Who is it?

Question from Lee Allen, Asst. Prof., Univ. of Memphis:
The standard reply from district superintendents is that, yes, all that technology stuff is
cool, and the kids like it, but I've got my hands full dealing with dropout rates, improving
test scores, discipline, school safety, etc. What is your response to this?

Keith R. Krueger:
Absolutely right...our goal is not to be cool or trendy, but to solve real education
problems with technology. We need to engage district supts in a conversation (see my
previous description of CoSN's new initiative) and it must be about how the world is
changing and why education and the role of supt must also change. Rather than me
making the case, lets listen to what some supts have told us: As Kevin Case,
Superintendent of Inman Unified School District, KS, has told CoSN, “District leaders
need to understand that change is a constant and be prepared to embrace it. We need to
create an environment in which people feel free to take risks. We need the opportunity to
network and keep up with what’s going on in the real world. That’s the only way we’ll
know what the demands are and what the jobs are that kids are going to be doing when
they graduate.” Mary Alice Heuschel, Superintendent of Renton School District, WA has
said, “Technology use is multifaceted in our district. Kids use presentation software to
show their work to the rest of class. Elementary teachers use handhelds for reading
assessments. We use graphing calculators and a networked approach to teach math in
middle school and high school. We’re working to strengthen distance learning and
provide high­quality support for distance learning courses for credit. For today’s student
and tomorrow’s future, the four walls aren’t the definition of school anymore.
Technology is becoming second nature to all kids and how they learn.” Dr. Annette
Griffin, Superintendent of Carrollton­Farmers Branch ISD, TX says, “Students live in a
digital world in which they multitask all the time. They will turn off to school if we don’t
teach in their world. With information growing all the time and the technology itself
changing so quickly, we need to teach students how to handle knowledge and be lifelong
learners. Unless they have help accessing, processing and managing new information,
they will not be prepared for their future.” Dennis Richards, Superintendent of Falmouth
Public Schools, MA, “Technology should be used by teachers, students and others in the
community to develop capacity, to think, interact, share ideas and resources, and to focus
energy and attention on student learning. Technology has the power to do that in a way
we’ve never been able to do before. We’re no longer limited by time and space.
Technology frees us to interact with people around the globe.” Chip Kimball,
Superintendent of Lake Washington School District, WA, “Technology can help with
assessment ­­ from the most granular level to the big picture. Digital whiteboards and
handhelds allow teachers to do immediate, on­the­spot formative assessments.
Summative assessment data can be gathered and analyzed to inform our decisions about
school improvement; we can slice it in a variety of ways, answering questions about the
impact of a particular program or intervention on student achievement.” Milt Dougherty,
Superintendent, USD444, Little River, KS, “Too often I see superintendents abdicating
responsibility because they don’t know enough about the technology or other things that
are coming their way. It’s fine to delegate but the superintendent needs to be the scout –
the person who looks over the hill to see what’s coming and reports back to the rest of the
troops. It doesn’t mean you should be a benevolent dictator and make all the decisions by

yourself. But the superintendent has to have a vision about where the world is going and
share that with other members of the leadership team so that, together, they can come up
with a plan that will prepare students for the world they’ll be seeing after school.”

Question from Kerry Goodson, District Technology Coordinator, Louisiana:
As a district coordinator who is charged with training teachers in the integration of
technology into standards­based lessons (classroom­based technology), how can I get my
principals, supervisors, and superintendent to make the shift to be more technology
knowledgeable? How do I go about convincing them to become trained, so as to fully
understand the teacher's role in technology integrated instruction and to understand why
the teachers need adequate technology?

Scott McLeod:
See my previous answer on this. Also go to my blog, Dangerously Irrelevant, click on the
Top Posts button, and then read a post called Creating digitally interested administrators
and a post called Great blogs for busy administrators. The key is to hook them with their
own job duties and responsibilities as well as what teachers are doing.

Question from Pat Kennedy, teacher, New Oxford Middle School:
With Web 2.0 and podcasting, blogging, and other types of interactive technology what is
a good starting point with administration to get them to implement policies regarding the
safe and appropriate use of these technologies?

Keith R. Krueger:
This is a big and growing issue. It is one that CoSN has been working to help district
technology leaders think through. We have a great leadership initiative on safety/security
from a district perspective called Cyber Security for the Digital District. It has tools to
have a conversation with Supts/School Boards about safety/security...because frankly, the
only completely safe network is one that is unused. But, as educators, we need to
minimize risk and plan for the inevitable. Web2.0 tools have lots of great educational
uses but school leaders need to understand the safety/security challenges in using them.
Check out http://www.securedistrict.org/ Click on the various sections about tools for
Supts/Policymakers, Technology Leaders and Students. Also, check out the
StaySafeOnline toolkit for K­12 from the National Cyber Security Alliance.
http://www.staysafeonline.org/basics/educators.html CoSN did a terrific webinair with
the US Telecom Association which can be listed to hear about this topic.

Question from Bess Rose, Research & Evaluation Specialist, Maryland State Dept of
Ed:
The Digital Directions article quotes a superintendent in Washington State: "Develop a
skill around a task." I agree this is the most effective approach for adult learners. One of
the tasks most suited for technology at the state department of education is the collection,
analysis, and reporting of data for myriad federal and state requirements. The key
challenge is the education of state program managers (who are usually not at all
technology or data proficient) to enable them to not only collect and report data

accurately but to use the data for program improvement. What are you experiences with
successful approaches to this problem?

Scott McLeod:
I actually do a lot of work on this front. There are a number of educational leadership
faculty and consultants who work with schools or data­driven educational issues. But few
of them talk about the technology side of things. I work with districts to help them
understand data warehouses, and information systems, and formative assessment systems,
and parent portals, and the like. You also can see some work we have done to try and
boost the skill base of educators to do their own analysis at www.schooldatatutorials.org,
which is one of CASTLE's many free resources for educators. Another thing that I think
we have to do is ground state program managers and other folks who intersect with data
not only in the technical aspects of these systems but also on what good data­driven
education looks like. I do a lot of that work too and, as you can imagine, it's quite
interesting.

Question from Brian Malloy, Math Teacher & Roster Chair, Bodine High School
for International Affairs:
The problem with introducing new technology to schools is that many times it does not
come with the proper staff development and it ends up in the closet. In order to get
productive use out of technology, the entire staff must be trained on it and there should be
follow up training. Why isn't this done?

Keith R. Krueger:
You are absolutely right. Too often, educators have been willing to deploy technology
with adequate planning. They are not thinking about the total cost of technology. Since
1999, CoSN has been working to help school administrators apply business concepts
(Total Cost of Ownership ­ or TCO) in the school environment. In general, education
continues to spend the vast majority of its budget on hardware and software, without
adequate professional development, technical support or a plan to upgrade/replace. (See
www.classroomtco.org) We must change the mindset and help admininstrators to
understand that technology is like buying a school bus. Yes, you have the one­time cost
of the bus, but you also must plan for a driver, insurance, gas, on­going maintenance, etc.
Your specific question about PD is a major concern for everyone concerened about
powerful/effective use of education technology. I will say that this is an area where I do
think progress is happening. Under No Child Left Behind technology funding (Title IID),
the current law requires a min. of 25% on PD. In fact, most places are far about that level,
according to research from the state education technology directors who distribute EETT
funds. And, CoSN, in partnership with ISTE and the state education technology directors,
are promoting a new vision for funding when Congress reauthorizes NCLB or some other
new legislation. Called the ATTAIN Act, it would set a much higher threshhold...40%.
We have already garnered widespread bipartisan support for this proposal and it has been
folded into draft bills by Education Chairmen Geo. Miller (House of Reps) and Edward
Kennedy (Senate). So, I am optimistic about having a national focus on this problem
going forward.

Question from Chris Tennant ­ a Former Principal In Central NY:
Scott, Will you elaborate on the 15 other programs that you mentioned in reference to
technology leadership? Has the State of NY, the SUNY system been included in that?
Cortland State for example has their educational programs as well as the administrative
program but I was never exposed to classes that emphasized or truly supported the tech
push. So where are they an how can we access those programs?

Scott McLeod:
www.schooltechleadership.org/highered ­ no SUNY institutions ever applied to be one of
our partners. If they had, they would have received our entire curriculum free along with
ongoing support and advisement (and a couple of free trips, including a meeting at
Microsoft headquarters!). I don't know what, if anything, the SUNY institutions are doing
along this front. I'm guessing not much since I haven't heard about any activity out there.
As I noted in an earlier post, we are going to get our CASTLE classes back up and
running here at Iowa State. They'll all be online and thus accessible from anywhere.

Question from Gregg Zulauf, Retired Science Education Director and Classroom
Teacher:
The use of technology in American schools is very costly. I know that many building
level administrators do not have expertise in knowing how technologies best serve
learning. What is being done nationally to educate administrators about the best use of
expensive educational technology?

Scott McLeod:
Not much, unfortunately. When I was at the University of Minnesota, we started the first
graduate program in the country designed to prepare technology­savvy school leaders.
We then gave that curriculum away to 15 other postsecondary institutions. So there are a
few educational administration programs across the United States that are trying to do a
better job on the technology side of leadership reparation. There also are a few district­
level initiatives such as the Chicago Principal Technology Leadership Institute. And a
few states have followed up on the efforts that began with their grants from the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation but most of those have died away and there's just not much
out there for practicing administrators.

Question from Ron Olfers, Technology Consultant, Trinity Episcopal School,
Austin, TX:
How do you determine the areas where Technology drives Curriculum, and, where
Curriculum utilizes Technology in supporting role.

Scott McLeod:
Technology should never drive curriculum. If it is, it's not being done right. One of the
reasons Plano, TX ISD has been so successful is that they figured this out at the
beginning. Read more in my 2005 Threshold article: www.scottmcleod.net/publications

Question from Karen R. Green community education council District 10 Riverdale
NY:
What is meant by developing a skill around a task?

Scott McLeod:
I interpreted that to mean that the learning is task­embedded rather than decontextualized.
For example, don't teach spreadsheets without connecting them to the real work that a
teacher or administrator does. I've seen districts that will try and teach teachers
PowerPoint or Excel or some other tool and use financial examples, real estate examples,
and other inapplicable examples instead of linking the tools directly to the day­to­day
activity of the educators.

Question from Scott Kutz, Technology, Innovation, Design & Engineering Teacher,
Westlake High School (OH.):
Please, not another Tech chat about computers!! Which of the seven systems of
technology do you mean? My friends, we have to broaden our scope of thinking! EdTech
is just about the tool ­ Technological Literacy is about Innovation, Design, Engineering,
and getting our kids to create (and I don't mean another Powerpoint). The "tool" is just
one of many resources in our "toolbox" to help kids discover, be curious, and ultimately
help solve problems in creating their own future.

Scott McLeod:
Scott, I totally agree with you. I hope that we talk a lot about leadership issues at the
intersection of technology, and not just the technology itself. That said, we also have to
recognize that it is the stuff, it's the technology itself, that is enabling many of these
revolutions that are transforming global society. We can't talk about change and we can't
talk about changes in schools without recognizing the technology.

Question from CANDY ECKERT Parent; St. Marys, PA:
Don't you think that NCLB has created a bureaucratic, paranoid, totalitarian breed of
administrators in our schools? With that, how could our school administrators possibly
keep up with technology let alone care about the fundamentals things like health, safety,
and producing well rounded citizens who can embrace the future with some sort of
optimism. Yes, I am a cynical parent and my only child is only in 4th grade.

Scott McLeod:
I'm sorry if you're experiencing paranoid totalitarian school leaders. Most of the
administrators that I have the privilege of working with are decent, hard­working, well­
intentioned educators. I do think that many educators, both teachers and administrators,
have responded to NCLB in ways that are educationally and psychologically
inappropriate (I concur with http://roomd2.blogspot.com/2007/02/on­nclb.html). We need
to do a better job of helping educators visualize different ways of responding to
accountability demands that are more productive for students. I do some of that work
with schools, and it's some of the most rewarding work I do.

Michelle Davis (Moderator):

Thank you all for submitting questions to the chat and to our guests for their thoughtful
answers. For more information on this topic, take a look at the latest issue of Digital
Directions.

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