1.1 Shared Vision
Candidates facilitate the development and implementation of a shared vision for the use of technology in teaching, learning, and leadership. (PSC 1.1/ISTE 1a)
Artifact: Shared Vision and Rationale
Reflection:
The Shared Vision and Rationale was created to bring a unifying vision for technology usage at Dalton Middle School. It was completed during the summer of 2015 as an assignment for the ITEC 7410: Instructional Technology Leadership. For the creation of this shared vision I worked with faculty and administrators from my school to craft a technology specific vision that still embodied the vision and beliefs of our school as a whole. Stakeholders provided feedback through a survey and emails to ensure that it was truly a shared vision of technology usage, and not just my own opinions and thoughts.
Standard 1.1, Shared Vision establishes the expectation of development and implementation of a shared vision for the use of technology in teaching, learning, and leadership. This artifact demonstrates my ability to take the opinions and feedback of other stakeholders, such as other teachers, administrators, and the school technology specialist, and facilitate the development of a shared vision for the use of technology in our school. By building off of the current school vision, and ISTE’s Essential Condition for developing a shared vision, the input of others was used to determine how technology is currently used in the classrooms for teaching and learning, and guide them to a common or shared vision of how technology should be used in each classroom for teaching and learning.
After the facilitation of the creation and development of this shared vision, the implementation of the shared vision was accelerated by the fact that so many stakeholders had input on what was needed for the school. While it cannot be fully implemented immediately due to the lack of funding for additional resources, it is a process that is happening within the school building because the need is recognized by all stakeholders. This shared vision is also working in conjunction with the School Improvement Plan and the District Technology Plan to aid in the full implementation moving forward.
I learned about the importance of including as many stakeholders as possible when creating a shared vision. When the vision is developed by only a select few individuals without feedback from others, the implementation of the shared vision can be met with resentment and hesitation. By including more stakeholders from the beginning, the purpose and process are more clearly seen and the buy-in is greater. In the future, I would wish to facilitate the development of the shared vision during the school year so that more stakeholders could be present for face-to-face conversations instead of relying on electronic communications such as email and surveys to voice their opinions and thoughts. This was something that was not possible due to the class taking place during the summer, but I would prefer for it to be completed at the end of the school year in preparation for implementation the following year.
This shared vision is something that has impacted school improvement by giving the administration team something to work towards for the direct implementation of technology in the school. The current School Improvement Plan did not include anything specifically about technology usage although the District Technology Plan did include goals for our school. This shared vision combined these two plans with the input of other stakeholders that was not necessarily considered when they were created. In fact, many teachers had no clue that a District Technology Plan even existed until I introduced them to it. By having a shared vision or goal, the teaching and learning will be improved through the use of technology in an effective way, not just merely as a “magical tool” that is expected to increase student achievement (Creighton, 2003; International Society for Technology Education, 2008). The success of this shared vision will be assessed and evaluated through the growth and usage of technology by all stakeholders within the school.
Resources
Creighton, T. (2003). The principal as technology leader. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
International Society for Technology Education. (2008). ISTE Policy Brief – Technology and Student Achievement: The indelible link. Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://www.k12hsn.org/files/research/Technology/ISTE_policy_brief_student_achievement.pdf.
The Shared Vision and Rationale was created to bring a unifying vision for technology usage at Dalton Middle School. It was completed during the summer of 2015 as an assignment for the ITEC 7410: Instructional Technology Leadership. For the creation of this shared vision I worked with faculty and administrators from my school to craft a technology specific vision that still embodied the vision and beliefs of our school as a whole. Stakeholders provided feedback through a survey and emails to ensure that it was truly a shared vision of technology usage, and not just my own opinions and thoughts.
Standard 1.1, Shared Vision establishes the expectation of development and implementation of a shared vision for the use of technology in teaching, learning, and leadership. This artifact demonstrates my ability to take the opinions and feedback of other stakeholders, such as other teachers, administrators, and the school technology specialist, and facilitate the development of a shared vision for the use of technology in our school. By building off of the current school vision, and ISTE’s Essential Condition for developing a shared vision, the input of others was used to determine how technology is currently used in the classrooms for teaching and learning, and guide them to a common or shared vision of how technology should be used in each classroom for teaching and learning.
After the facilitation of the creation and development of this shared vision, the implementation of the shared vision was accelerated by the fact that so many stakeholders had input on what was needed for the school. While it cannot be fully implemented immediately due to the lack of funding for additional resources, it is a process that is happening within the school building because the need is recognized by all stakeholders. This shared vision is also working in conjunction with the School Improvement Plan and the District Technology Plan to aid in the full implementation moving forward.
I learned about the importance of including as many stakeholders as possible when creating a shared vision. When the vision is developed by only a select few individuals without feedback from others, the implementation of the shared vision can be met with resentment and hesitation. By including more stakeholders from the beginning, the purpose and process are more clearly seen and the buy-in is greater. In the future, I would wish to facilitate the development of the shared vision during the school year so that more stakeholders could be present for face-to-face conversations instead of relying on electronic communications such as email and surveys to voice their opinions and thoughts. This was something that was not possible due to the class taking place during the summer, but I would prefer for it to be completed at the end of the school year in preparation for implementation the following year.
This shared vision is something that has impacted school improvement by giving the administration team something to work towards for the direct implementation of technology in the school. The current School Improvement Plan did not include anything specifically about technology usage although the District Technology Plan did include goals for our school. This shared vision combined these two plans with the input of other stakeholders that was not necessarily considered when they were created. In fact, many teachers had no clue that a District Technology Plan even existed until I introduced them to it. By having a shared vision or goal, the teaching and learning will be improved through the use of technology in an effective way, not just merely as a “magical tool” that is expected to increase student achievement (Creighton, 2003; International Society for Technology Education, 2008). The success of this shared vision will be assessed and evaluated through the growth and usage of technology by all stakeholders within the school.
Resources
Creighton, T. (2003). The principal as technology leader. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
International Society for Technology Education. (2008). ISTE Policy Brief – Technology and Student Achievement: The indelible link. Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://www.k12hsn.org/files/research/Technology/ISTE_policy_brief_student_achievement.pdf.