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  Leadership
  Strong leaders will be the most effective force in the evolution of educational technology. In a time when schools are faced with incredible pressures from state and federal government to be accountable for student achievement, it is easy for administrators to focus on the latest trends in school improvement and take for granted other important educational issues that will, ultimately, be the keys to success in a student's future. One example of this is the large amounts of resources poured into Reading reform today. Reading is very important, of that there is no doubt; however, school leaders (Usually through the encouragement of government agencies.) are channeling great deals of funds into traditional Reading curricula—Phonemic awareness, leveled libraries, QAR, R3 , etc…and are seeming to ignore that other useful Reading tools are available.
 
Unfortunately, technology and its uses within education seems to be one of those items that school leaders are taking for granted. School districts within this very state are cutting technology budgets, reducing technology support staff, and limiting the amount of technology professional development that instructional staff members are required to attend. These leaders are either unaware of, or choose to ignore, the great advantages technology can bring to the entire educational process. For example, students now days will obtain a majority of their information from Internet research. Students should be taught to not only find these resources, but also to read directly from the computer screen. Along with this need for being able to physically adapt to the new reading media, students will also have to acquire Internet and application literacy skills: Navigation bars, site indices, banner recognition and discernment, and more. Further, much of the information and material used to teach Reading is becoming more and more computer based. Tiene and Ingram support this fact in their book, Exploring Current Issues in Educational Technology, when they state, “Many publishing companies, including textbook publishers, are coming to see that they are in the business of selling information, not books. They are already beginning to market this information more extensively in new media formats (2001).” Why then are school budgets being denuded of their technology monies? Why, then, are more districts not increasing the number of technology savvy staff members? Why is professional development continually steering away from technology use and integration?
 
The MSET program has as one of its objectives to develop strong leaders in the area of instructional technology. These leaders will, hopefully, be able to make school administrators, school boards, instructional staff, and community members aware of the power technology has where education of students, adult or K12, is concerned. The MSET goals in this endeavor are:
use systematic problem-solving and research-based human/computer interaction practices in the development of computer-assisted instructional programs.
understand the capabilities of the computer, its impact on education, business,
industry and government; and will be able to adapt to, understand, evaluate and make use of new and emerging innovations in computer and information technology.
develop the skills needed to maintain computer programs, computer systems and networks.
be proficient in finding, evaluating, and using current educational research to support continuous improvement in their profession.
demonstrate proficiency in teaching and assessing others in the use of computers and related technologies in a variety of educational settings.
 
Below are some of the products that this student created, either directly through course work during his MSET experience or in his professional capacity via the influence of his learnings in the MSET program (Click on red text for documents).
 
Problem solving Strategies
Program Evaluation Program Development and Improvement
Strategies to deal with change within the educational workplace are important tools one must acquire in order to be an effective technology leader. CET 765: Leadership in Technology Change is a course that exposes students to Total Quality Management (TQM) techniques designed specifically to help in program modification and/or development. One of the most useful exercises for this student was the paper clip activity (MS Word file). I demonstrated the value of organization, teamwork, and member ownership in the group decision making process. Program evaluation is a very important function of any leader. Is the program working efficiently? Are the goals of the program being met? Is the desired product or level of quality resulting from the program? Such questions must be answered objectively and accurately with a definite regard for stakeholder needs and desires. CET 720: Evaluating Technology Outcomes helps future educational leaders do exactly that. This document is a team effort at evaluating a school technology plan (Shannon County Tech Plan Evaluation MS Word file). Instructor comments and final grade are included. Every organization must face change from time to time. If organizations refuse to accommodate this change or effect inefficient change, the outcomes of any organizational work may suffer. CET 765: Leadership in Technology Change teaches future leaders to handle change in productive and systemic ways. This document (PDF format) is a representation of how teamwork and Total Quality Management principals, as established by Dr. W. Edwards Deming, can work in solving issues accompanying programmatic change.
 
Understanding Educational Activity Systems Project Work Planning Major project Activity Design
Educational organizations are systems and should, therefore, be lead with a clear view of systemic needs in mind. CET 740: Systems Theory of Distance Education is a course designed to focus the student’s perspective on system change and system design. The interaction of seemingly separate organizations, identification of stakeholders, the rippling affects of change on systems, and many other issues are explored. This exploration of system design, specifically Educational Activity System (EAS) design, is best represented by the Activities Journal (PDF format) each student is required to complete. This journal is a very effective tool for the student since it forces the individual to compare the information and theory obtained from the course with the individual’s experiences. In my work, I am responsible for helping a consortium of schools develop and implement a work plan for the use of distance education within their districts. This is a daunting project at times; one that I may not have been able to complete if it were not for my participation in the MSET program. What follows is a consortium work plan (MS Word file) as it was developed by a team of school representatives and me. I utilized the principles of TQM, self-gathered evaluation data, and my knowledge of Education Activity Systems to guide the process used in the plan’s creation. Another duty my work requires me to perform is the creation and implementation of major project activities. This is usually an individual assignment and requires that one be fully familiar with issues that may affect many different stakeholders. Schools, students, teachers, principal investigators of grant projects, and partnering organizations are just a few examples. This project required the organizing of elementary teachers to create, implement, and evaluate curriculum for technology use in community businesses. Many of the techniques for systemic design, problem solving, and project evaluation—skills an information acquired through the MSET project-- were used to implement the tasks and activities found in this project summary (MS Word file).
 
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