ARTICLE QUESTIONS

Article Questions

Article Questions

Question 1

This article analyzes the concept of educational technology leadership. It is argued that leadership in the domain of educational technology is different in various ways from leadership in general. In particular, the skills underlying technology leadership need to be identified so they can be incorporated into training programs for teachers and school administrators. It is concluded that this is a critical research area because many educational technology efforts fail due to lack of good leadership at all levels of school systems.

Instructional technology, especially computers, has come to play a major role in our school systems. However, the results of technology use in the classroom have been equivocal. Analysis of the effectiveness of technology in education (Yammarino et al., 2005 879-919) suggests that the manner in which technology is implemented is more important than any intrinsic characteristics of the technology. In other words, leadership of one kind or another plays a very critical role in the success of instructional technology.

While schools of education and school systems have made progress in their efforts to train teachers in the use of instructional technology (Agle et al., 2006 161-174), there has been little critical examination of technology leadership, i.e., the factors that are associated with the exemplary use of technology in schools. This article provides a conceptual framework for the analysis of technology leadership. Of particular interest is the identification of skills that make up such leadership qualities so they can be incorporated into suitable learning activities for teacher training programs. It is hoped that this article will encourage further research and discussion on the subject of technology leadership.

An understanding of technology leadership shares much with research on leadership in general and educational leadership in particular. It is our contention, however, that the specific knowedge and abilities involved in technology leadership deserves special attention. Technology leadership is inherently linked to innovation, and this provides unique considerations. While leadership usually involves dealing with change, technology leadership deals almost exclusively with new procedures, policies, and situations. A critical element in technology leadership is the ability to develop and articulate a vision of how technology could produce changes (Scott et al., 2000 548).

There are many conceptualizations of leadership, ranging from the classic trait theories to behavioral and contingency theories. While all of these different theories contribute to our understanding of leadership, we believe that a cultural view of leadership is most useful in the domain of education and technology. The cultural view of leadership (Thornton, 2001 294-311) suggests that the success of leaders is determined by their ability to articulate and influence cultural norms and values. Leaders are expected to shape the culture of individual schools and school systems by creating new visions that organizational members can believe in and act upon. More recent work has focused on the concepts of empowerment and shared leadership at all levels (Farashahi et al., 2005 1-24).

Technology of one form or another has always been part of the formal educational system in the form of books, chalkboards, ...