Technology+Standard+VIII+Reflection



**Reflections on Technology Facilitator Standard VIII: Leadership and Vision ** **By Raquel Cantu ** Technology facility Standard VIII focuses on Leadership and vision. Williamson and Redish (2009)tell of the value of this standard to technology leaders; “…Standard VIII describes how technologists lead others in creating a research-based vision and developing a long-range strategic plan moving the vision into reality” (p. 177). The Technology Facilitator Standard VIII reading assignment helped me to gain knowledge as an educational technology leader. Before I learned about the Leadership and Vision Technology standard I didn’t feel such an urgency to have a strong administrative focus for creating a research-based school vision. I now feel the urge to be an advocate to take action in order to make vision into a reality. While working on my field-based internship activities I realized that I must have a vision that is aligned to my district’s educational technology vision in order to move towards a positive change. There must be justification and consistency in order to be accepted. I learned that vision must have validity in order to progress and take shape. The absence of leadership and vision cultivated in Standard VIII will prevent stakeholders from seeing why technology is so important to schools. It is important to make sure that leadership and vision are both present before specific actions take place. My approach and strategies to implementing the standards and indicators during my field-based internship activities involved many conversations with my administrator as well as other leaders in the school. When creating our school vision we had to make sure that it embodied our vision for technology as well. As a learner, I know that since I learn best from first hand experience that I would need to continue to see my vision in all major actions I take in order to make it a reality. My interactions with colleagues through the discussion forum helped bring clarity to what I was attempting to express through my vision for my internship activities. As a life long learner, I will keep in mind the differences I learned between management and good leadership. In the future I will have experience with the Long-Range Technology Plan helping me to become more familiar with the steps to implement a plan and school vision. My past interactions and collaborations with colleagues will impact my future as they left a lasting impression on me when I was allowed to hear their unique visions and goals and what actions they were taking to implement Standard VIII leadership and vision. Their ideas and actions led me to more ideas and actions. Questions and issues that challenge me and that I feel are worthy of future research with regard to the implementation of the Standards and indicators is accountability. Learning how to hold teachers accountable for helping implement the technology vision seems rather daunting to me. I would like to learn more ideas on how to stay to on top of making sure the vision becomes a reality. In the future I will look to other successful schools and how they are successfully living out their vision and try to see how their actions can apply to my school.
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Williamson, J. & Redish, T. (2009). //Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards: What// //Every K-12 Leader Should Know and Be Able To Do//.Eugene,OR: International Society for Technology in Education.