The Principal and Technology:
Selected Resources

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(A photo from our 2005 Summer Leadership Institute.)

Jim Forde

     About a year ago I produced a document for the principalspartnership.org web site called “The Internet as a Leadership Tool”. It is a list of useful internet resources for school administrators. One important topic that wasn’t included in the extensive list was “technology and school leaders”.

     The following list is an attempt to correct that by providing you with a non-comprehensive list of some great resources that connect the topics of school administration and technology.

  Let’s take a look at them and see how they can help you to become a tech savvy principal!

Links related to Technology Standards for Administrators:

*Technology Standards for School Administrators
http://osx.latech.edu/tssa/

The purpose of this initiative was to create a consensus on Technology Standards for School Administrators. Organizations such as AASA, NASSP, NAESP, CoSN, ISTE and NSBA came together in order to achieve this consensus.

*National Educational Technology Standards for Administrators
http://osx.latech.edu/administrators/a_stands.html

http://osx.latech.edu/administrators/pdf/NETSA_Standards.pdf

Here is a PDF of the full set of standards for school administrators. This document builds on the work of the TSSA Collaborative and expands the “core” into other administrative job roles. The International Society of Technology Educators, which produced this document, was also involved in the production of the integrated TSSA document.

Click here for a NETS for Administrators Poster

http://osx.latech.edu/administrators/a_profile-prin.html
These are the essential conditions that should exist for implementing the NETS for Administrators.

*Principal Profile for Technology-Literate Administrators
http://osx.latech.edu/administrators/a_profile-prin.html

Once again the ISTE NETS provide guidance to us by creating a list of specific tasks that effective principals engage in. They are broken into the six key areas of responsibility and could make a great self-assessment as you reflect on where you stand in relation to these suggested tasks.

*Scholastic Administr@tor TSSA Self-assessment Survey
http://www.scholastic.com/administrator/tssasurvey_p1.asp

See where you stand in relation to above mentioned TSSA (Technology Standards for School Administrators) by taking this web based survey.

Links focusing on technology and school leaders:

*Scholastic Administr@tor Technology Page
http://www.scholastic.com/administrator/tech.htm

Scholastic Administrator produces original articles and links to great resources related to instructional technology and data-driven decision making.

*CoSN (The Consortium for School Networking) Web site
http://www.cosn.org/index.cfm

Their self-described mission, “ …(CoSN) is the country’s premier voice in education technology leadership with a mission to serve as the national organization for K-12 technology leaders who use technology strategically to ultimately improve teaching and learning.”

*CoSN - Essential Leadership Skills Series
http://www.cosn.org/resources/essential/index.cfm

Here are professional Development Resources for the District Level Technology Decision Maker

*TICAL (Technology Information Center for Administrative Leadership)
http://www.portical.org/index.html

The California Department of Education (CDE) commissioned the Santa Cruz County Office of Education to develop a centralized repository of technology related resources and professional development opportunities for California's administrators, but we ALL get to benefit from this great web resource!

--See the “Principals, New Teachers, and Technology” resources By Bruce Duncan
http://www.portical.org/Presentations/duncan/

--See the Matrices where they have organized various resources and cross referenced them to a variety of leadership topics. This is a unique resource.
http://www.portical.org/matrix.html

*Education World- School Administrator Center- Technology and Internet Archives
http://www.education-world.com/a_admin/archives/tech.shtml

A myriad of great tech ideas for administrators.

*OTEC (Oregon Technology in Education Council) School Administrator Page
http://otec.uoregon.edu/school_administrators.htm

Here is yet another deep resource that organizes information technology topics of relevance to school administrators.

*North Central Regional Educational Lab- Critical Issue: Technology Leadership
http://snipurl.com/pvya

This site organizes ideas that relate to using technology to enhance positive educational change.

*Just for Administrator- technology Links http://www.suelebeau.com/administrators.htm#technology

A set of links compiled by Dr. Sue Lebeau

Articles that focus on technology and school leaders:

*Technological Literacy for Administrators

A useful article that addresses technology literacy self-assessment for school administrators.

*What does a tech-savvy administrator look like?

A look at what an actual tech-savvy administrator would be doing within their school. It focuses in on six standards.

*What’s next? By Scholastic Administr@tor

See what’s coming “down the pike” by examining these 10 resources.

*What Every Principal Needs to Know About Technology And Where to Find It Online

This couldn’t be a more appropriate title for a great list of resources.

* Learn how you can keep connected throughout your district.

An article on using hand-held computers in the role of school administrator.

*Tech Training From the Top

A brief piece addressing the importance of technology training for school principals.

*The Blog Bog

Last, but certainly not least, social networking Web sites and their roles in schools are examined in this brief article. Don’t miss the Do’s and Don’ts section.

See our Feature Article Archives for past articles!