Guiding Light

Ever seen Nemo? You know that light that is dangling in front of them and they are mesmerized and then they realize it is something dangerous and AAAAHHHHH! They have to get away fast. The pretty light wasn't all it appeared,  it was much worse.

Administrators can't be tricked by the pretty light. There are so many companies that just want our educational money (ha!) and will do most anything to get us to purchase their hardware, software, gadget, etc. We have to be grounded in best practices in technology as well as good technology investments.

So how do we decide...

• what technologies can we implement that will prepare children for their future?
• what technologies can we implement that support critical thinking?
• what technologies can we implement that support creativity?
• what technologies can we implement that support communication?
• what technologies can we implement that support collaboration?  (NAESP)
• what training do our educators need in order to implement technology integration with our students?

Administrators must stay informed of current and "ground breaking" technologies that could be beneficial in the classroom. Administrators must make choices based on what his/ her school needs, not what someone else is doing.

If we stay grounded in what is best for our students and provide high quality professional development for our teachers then we are providing a strong foundation for instructional technology implementation.

I found an article from NAESP that correlates with this topic. It discusses the 4 Cs that I mentioned above.

http://www.naesp.org/principal-januaryfebruary-2012-technology/technology-integration-new-21st-century-learner

Happy Tuesday,
Ginger