ReflectionsOnStandard8

In chapter eight of //ISTE's Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards: What Every K-12 Leader Should Know and Be Able to Do//, Williamson and Redish discuss Technology Standard Eight. Standard Eight is all about having a vision for the future, and how one can lead in which to reach the goals in the vision. Williamson and Redish write. "research suggests that current instructional models are more teacher-centered than student-centered. Leadership and a strong vision are necessary to push technology use into less familiar, but promising, constructivist contexts" (Williamson, 2009, p. 179). The more I thought about this statement that these models are more teacher-centered, the more true it seemed. It seems that we create these models to show teachers how they work, not necessarily for student use. The text goes on to say that if we do not have leadership and vision, "technology may be used to reinforce traditional forms of instruction, but not to enable new ways of teaching and learning" (Williamson, 2009, p. 179).

During my internship I was able to take the lead on many trainings and projects both on my campus and throughout the district. On three occasions I taught a staff development sessions on google docs, eduphoria, and the A-plus Learning System that we use on our campus. Doing this makes it very clear that without a vision of how these tools can be used to improve work in the classroom, these tools are worthless. Discussing the vision with my colleagues during these staff development sessions added to my own personal vision for these programs as my colleagues came up with more great ideas that I had never thought about. I have appreciated that our district has begun using Professional Learning Communities for this very reason.

When it comes to Standard Eight, learning will be a constant as technology leaders must be able to teach these new technologies. This means that technology leaders must first know and understand these new technologies. Also, creating a vision relies on keeping up with what our community wants for their children, and the changes in our community over time. The text suggests that "there is a high expectation that technology planning will be community based", and that "community input is often required for state and federal approval processes" (Williamson, 2009, p. 183). Because of this, we have the luxery of not only working with colleagues to create our vision, but we are able to get even more heads involved from the community to create the best vision possible!

Williamson, J., & Redish, T. (2009). //ISTE's Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards: What Every K-12 Leader Should Know and Be Able to Do.// Washington, DC: International Society for Technology in Education.