RESEARCH PAPER TEMPLATE

North American University

Education Department
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership
EDUC 5321: TECHNOLOGY FOR SCHOOL PRINCIPALS
Name: Aysun Coban

Date: Sep 28, 2014

Topic Selected:
Topic 1: Principals must effectively and consistently model the use of the same technology
tools they expect teachers to use in their classrooms with the students (Toy, n.d.).
1. Do you agree or disagree with this statement/topic? State your position.
Explain why the issue/topic is important. Go beyond just stating I agree with the
statement. (At least 1 paragraph)
Your Position/Introduction:

21st century educators have more responsibilities in the schools for students
learnings and achievements. Technology application is one of these
responsibilities that every educator must be qualified to implement it into their
teaching. In this case technology tools are being significantly important for school
principals, administrators, and teachers. Today in many schools, technology tools
are being used by teachers, however there are still some teachers who do not
want to implement technology into their teaching. If a teacher knows his/her
subject very well, and practices the teaching activities with traditional methods for
long years in his/her classroom, it is being a kind of torture for them to arrange
some extra time and effort to learn and apply these tools. Since there are still
unwilling teachers to use technology, principals have more responsibilities to
encourage them about technology use. Therefore, as a principal it is going to be
more effective using technology in the school rather than only recommending
teachers to use it. Technology tools must be learned and implement into
curriculum by the principals, then teachers must be trained to implement it into
classroom activities. Even principals might not use a Math or Science technology
tools, however should know and encourage teachers to use them.
2. What does the literature/research say about this issue/topic? Conduct NAU
Library or Online Search.
(Give references to scholarly articles or web articles, properly cite them in APA
style and include the full article citation under the References) (At least 1
paragraph)

Brief Literature Review:

The most effective way school administrators can promote technology use is to
themselves be knowledgeable and effective users of technology. (Betty Kistler,
2009)
Administrators need to model, model, model. (M. Reed, 2009)

School administrators can be a model by knowing how to use the hardware and
software they expect teachers to use. (M. Reed, 2009)
"Weekly memos to staff members, schedule changes, meeting minutes, and so
on, can all be handled via e-mail. School news can be broadcast over the school
cable system. Attendance records, grading, and reporting can be technologybased with a system that's intuitive, practical, and accessible. A school Web
page can feature administrators providing brief descriptions of the school and its
mission, school highlights, or upcoming events." (M. Kreul, 2009)
Caroline Salerno, a fifth-grade teacher and Internet trainer at Bretton Woods
Elementary School in Hauppauge, New York says: "Principals can encourage the
use of technology in their schools in other ways as well," also she says;
"Principals can;

support and encourage teachers who want to go to conferences and

participate in staff development.

e-mail notices and agendas to staff, rather than printing and distributing
them.

ask that lesson plans be submitted through e-mail or on disk.

foster technology growth by asking parents to write e-mail addresses on

medical forms.

insist that all teachers create a class Web page.

attend technology conferences to see what other schools are doing, what
other teachers are doing to integrate technology, and what principals are
doing to encourage the use of technology in their schools and classrooms.

She also says: "District administrators need to do their jobs as well," Salerno
adds, "by providing technology training for principals!"
"What do schools administrators need to know, do, and provide to promote
technology integration among their staff and students?"
What do they need to know?

How to use word processing.

How to use the Internet.

How to use e-mail.

The status of technology on their campus.
Which teachers are -- and are not -- using technology.
What they need to do?
Support the technology coordinator.
Reward teachers using technology.
Encourage teachers who are not using technology.
Visit classrooms to see computer use.
Take an active role in using technology.
What do they need to provide?
Opportunities for staff development.
Sufficient up-to-date, workable computer equipment.
Funds for computer improvements.
Time and resources for troubleshooting programs and future planning.
Internet access. (Jennifer Wagner, 2009)

Starr, L. (2009, September 23). The Administrator's Role in Technology

Integration. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
3. Provide at least one example regarding your topic from a school you are
familiar with. If you are not working in a school, how would you implement your
ideas on this issue to your career? Be specific with your examples. You can
mention software/hardware names and specific methods that you plan to use. (At
least 1 paragraph)
Examples:

In my school our principal and other admins usually use;

E-mails to inform others about schools agenda, events, meetings,
updates, and etc.
Google docs or spread sheets to collect information from teachers
school website to inform parents, students, teachers, and other
stakeholders
presentations in staff meetings
database for data of students and teachers
However I think these tools are not sufficient for a school leader, in my opinion, a
principal should be more knowledgeable about some other technology tools. For
instance, he or she may be able to use tools which are being used currently in
the classrooms by the teachers.
Moreover, I believe that principals should know how to;
use Office Applications sufficiently,
create a video or podcast,
generate online surveys, electronic portfolios
built a webpage
as a rolemodel of the technology user in their schools.
4. Cite your References in APA. You may use
http://www.citationmachine.net/apa/cite-a-journal for citing your sources in APA
style.

References:
Starr, L. (2009, September 23). The Administrator's Role in Technology
Integration. Retrieved September 28, 2014, from
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech087.shtml

Toy, C. (n.d.). Leadeship and Effectively Integrating Educational Technology:

Ten Lessons for Principals and Other Educational Leaders.NASSP. Retrieved
from http://www.nassp.org/Content.aspx?topic=58730