OMG completing the last part of my Masters journey this week. Hopefully I can pull it off. I've been losing sleep for about a week, worrying about the 90 minute presentation I have to do in front of classmates and profs. Yikes! I've spent the last 2.5 years researching successful integration of technology into the classroom. I think I have it figured out, now if I can only talk about it for 90 minutes. It's not the paper, it's not the 50 annotated bibliographies or the portfolio. It's the 90 minute presentation. From my research, I have found that it is teacher pedagogy that will most greatly influence successful tech integration. Pedagogy is not the only factor, but appears to be the most important one. Leadership also has a huge impact on tech integration. Without a supportive, tech friendly leader, teachers will not have the support or financial backing to integrate technology. As with most things, a financial aspect is always present in the decision making process. And in a school, the leaders make the financial decisions. So, if your leader doesn't buy into the importance of tech, it will be very difficult to incorporate it adequately into your classroom.
I was on twitter recently and came across this excellent TED video on leadership.It can be applied to leadership in the school.
