Why Superintendents Need To Be High Tech Experts
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The eLearning revolution is well underway, necessitating a complete rethink for all educational administrators in the face of an evolving teaching landscape. This is especially true when it comes to school superintendents. A school superintendent who is not versed in Edtech runs the risk of facilitating systems that are counter-intuitive and counterproductive to the needs of a changing student populace.
The new K-12 learning and teaching environment requires schools to start altering their ways to meet student needs. This includes moving away from brick-and-mortar classrooms in hopes that eLearning may provide better results. With that being said, school superintendents shouldn’t just be versed in Edtech to succeed nowadays – they have to be experts in the field or run the risk of failing both their teachers and their students.
Interactive Learning Has To Be A Top Priority
Working against or away from technology is a losing battle for a school superintendent. The modern student needs to be engaged in ways that help waning attention spans remain attentive and into the subject matter which is being presented to them.
For a school superintendent, this means using technology to a classroom and a teacher’s advantage. Rather than forcing students to glean context through lectures and antiquated teaching methods, school superintendents need to facilitate learning by using technology to build context for students in new and exciting ways.
Whether this is using robotics in classrooms in hopes of getting students together to solve a common problem, or using eLearning platforms to immerse students in a subject with the help of multimedia tools, school superintendents must be on the philosophical cusp of Edtech. When a technological evolution presents itself that could be to the superintendent’s advantage (and the advantage of the schools they oversee), it is crucial that a superintendent is trained to spot it and apply it to full effect.
Keeping Teachers In The Loop, Making Them A Priority
It’s simple – edtech is changing the way both teaching and learning is occurring, and a school superintendent who doesn’t embrace and understand this is doing a disservice to everyone involved.
School superintendents must serve as examples to their faculties and the students they’re overseeing. In doing so, they also have to bring teachers into the loop when it comes to the adoption of technologies in the classroom and what that means for them.
The adoption of technology doesn’t end when it hits the classroom level. Teachers must be trained on how to use these technological advancements to better their careers and the students they teach. Therefore, ongoing professional training is an absolute must.
If a school superintendent isn’t an expert in the technology that’s being implemented at the classroom level, the professional training their teachers undergo will be incomplete. Unless the right information and innovation are flowing from the top-down, teachers won’t be able to use eLearning and Edtech advancements to their full capabilities.
Without everyone on the same page, students suffer. Thus, it is crucial that a school superintendent be aware of the classroom and the Edtech that students are using.