When I think about an administrator, I often think about “upper management.” As an employee in the public schools, or even at the collegiate level, my building administrator was the go-to person for all things related to that school or department. These folks were in charge and carried a lot of importance, both in leadership and management. Management of resources, staff, building functions and technology all fell into their administrator role.
Two factors I find most important in any administrator, are leadership and effective management. To be effective leaders and managers, one must have skills including a strong handle on the task at hand and be able to lead in multiple areas (Collins, 2019). Leading staff and faculty to implement, upgrade or change technologies requires this administrator to be familiar with the technology and its uses or some level of performance expectancy for their organization/company, as well as know its benefits, and challenges.
For the technology to improve the productivity it must be accepted and used by the organization (Venkatesh, et al., 2003, p.426). For an administrator to attempt and overcome this feat of implementation or upgrade of technology such as the case of “Kayla”, effective management and strong leadership are a must. I would not blindly follow someone asking me to use a technology they have no experience using, nor would I feel confident completing tasks for a supervisor/administrator that has weak leadership attributes.
Do you feel that your administration supports
the organization by being an organized and effective leader/manager? If not,
what do you see that could be improved?
Collins, J. [Dr. Jim Collins]. (2019, January 9). The
Good Administrator [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86T0o81QHiw
Venkatesh, Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B., & Davis, F. D.
(2003). User acceptance of information
technology: Toward a unified view. MIS Quarterly, 27(3),
425–478.
https://doi-org.er.lib.k-state.edu/10.2307/30036540
This is a really interesting question/challenge, isn't it? In many organizations, the implemented technology would not be used day-to-day by the administrator. For example, if the technology is a barcode scanner to track inventory, then it is likely used by line staff but not managers or administrators. Depending on the organization, an educational administrator may not have much opportunity to use the technology installed in a classroom, or at least not frequently enough to encounter the same problems as faculty who use it daily.
ReplyDeleteIf an organization is particularly bold in adopting technology, then there may not have been much opportunity for the leader/manager to become experienced. One of the things that has frustrated me with readings about what is needed to be successful as a digital leader is that many of the recommendations are vague and non-specific. It's reminiscent of feedback such as, "Be assertive, but not too assertive. Be confident, but not too much."
YYou make a good point!. I appreciate your illumination of this consideration. My view is that the administrator should at least try the technology first. Next, they should know its uses and have a firm foundational understanding of its benefits and how it will meet the organizations goal, all prior to implementation. However, as you stated the actual use of the technology by the administrator may be minimal. This consideration should be included, yet not the overall driving factor. If a bar scanner is not used b the administration should the administrator then not have an understanding of its uses and benefits just because they don’t use it daily? I still feel that good leadership can be found in an administrator that knows the needs and goals of the organization as well as the how-to’s to achieve them. If not at least be able to delegate the how’s so overall “together everyone achieves more.(T.E.A.M.)
DeleteTo answer your question...
ReplyDeleteDo you feel that your administration supports the organization by being an organized and effective leader/manager? If not, what do you see that could be improved?
I would have to say my answer at the current moment as a 2nd grade teacher at a school in Harlem, is very much no. There are several "administrators" in our network, too many in my opinion. So many, in fact, that they are unable to communicate even with each other and then teachers get conflicting information from different administrators.
For example, we were taking attendance on a tracker on a GoogleSheet for the first 2 weeks of school. All of a sudden, we were told one morning that we are to take attendance on Powerschool, a program that new teachers, such as myself, had never used and we were to begin using it that very morning. As you can imagine, this did not got well. Mid morning, after so many teachers were having trouble with the technology, we were told to just take attendance in the tracker for that morning. It was a lot of unnecessary stress that could have been prevented by organization, transparency, and training from the administrators.
Great post, I really like the graphic you used! I appreciate the two factors you chose: leadership and effective management. Leaders working to implement new technology must absolutely come across to their staff and their learners as competent and experienced digital leaders. Staff and learners will look to their leader for guidance, not only on how to physically use the technology, but also how to feel about, perceive, be motivated by, and the importance of learning the new technology. Leaders must be confident and well-versed in the technology, explaining its importance, and taking a committed stance on the impact it will have on the organization. This will allow staff and learners to feel safe and confident with the implementation as well.
ReplyDelete