CODE77 Rubrics for Administrators 2010 Part 6 of 10

I warned you these were coming.

Self-evaluation Rubrics for Basic Administrative Technology Use (2002) 2010

Our investigations have always contributed more to our amusement than they have to knowledge”
- Will Rogers

VI.  Online Research, and Professional Development, and Personal Learning Networks  (TSSA Standards I.B, I.F, II.A, III.C) NETS-A 2009 (2d, 3b, 3d)

Level One: I do prefer not to use online resources to gather professional information or research nor do I use technology to communciate with my peers to share information.

Level Two:  I can effectively search and extract information from online resources such as educational journal databases, ERIC, and other credible sources on the Internet. I subscribe to electronic journals and newsletters of professional relevance. I subscribe to electronic mailing lists (listservs) and blogs to gather information and problem solve with fellow professionals. I have participated in satellite-delivered educational forums or training delivered via satellite, ITV or online.

Level Three: I understand and can use online interactive communications (chat or messaging) and have taken classes using the Internet or interactive television. I use technology remain actively engaged in a professional learning community of fellow professionals.

Why leaders need technology skills that help them do online searches for find educational research and for professional growth:

A wag once speculated that if H.G. Wells used his time machine to drop into the present day, he would be awed by the changes he saw in hospitals and banks but would feel perfectly at home in the modern school since it has changed so very little in the last 100 years.

As schools are asked that ALL children master not just basic skills but think critically, work independently, and communicate well so that they can find a place in our information-based workforce, schools are looking for new strategies and methods to use. An awareness and understanding of these strategies and methods has never been more critical for all school leaders. And it is very hard increasingly difficult to keep current.

Thankfully there are many electronic resources that allow school leaders to find information about current educational practices.

Educational mailing lists allow practitioners to exchange ideas and questions in an open forum. By subscribing to such lists, a single message sent to the electronic mailing list can go to hundreds or even thousands of other administrators with years of experience. Sources of mailing lists arranged by interest include Yahoo! Groups <groups.yahoo.com> and GoogleGroups <http://groups.google.com/>. Most state professional organizations have an e-mail list that is useful.

General search engines such as Google can provide links to a large number of educational websites. As with all information on the web, it needs to be carefully evaluated for currency, bias and authority. Learning search strategies to narrow the number of returned sites is also imperative.

Commercial full-text periodical database providers such as ProQuest and Ebsco offer packages just for educators. These are resources that require a paid subscription, but are often relatively inexpensive if your district is purchasing full-text databases for student use. Check with your local university to see if you can access its commercial education databases as a student, adjunct or alumnus.

Most educational organizations and many educational journals also have a web presence. Among the most useful include:

• American Association of School Administrators (AASA) <http://www.aasa.org/>
• Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) <http://www.ascd.org>
• Association of School Business Officials International (ASBOI) <http://www.asbointl.org/>
• Education Week on the Web <http://www.edweek.org/>
• Educator's Reference Desk <http://www.eduref.org/>
• eSchool News Online <http://www.eschoolnews.org/>
• International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) <http://www.iste.org/>
• National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) <http://www.naesp.org/>
• National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) <http://www.principals.org/>
• National Center for Education Statistics <http://nces.ed.gov/>
• National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities (NCEF) <http://www.edfacilities.org/>
• Phi Delta Kappan online < http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kappan.htm>
• Public Education Network (PEN) <http://www.publiceducation.org/>

 (URLs checked Janury 2010)

With the advent of Web2.0, another source of useful information has become available to educators - blogs, wikis, Nings, Twitter and other networking tools, professionals are creating "professional learning networks."  A PLN can be defined as a self-created set of experts, colleagues and resources that can be relied upon to meet daily learning needs, usually dependent on networked technology. Given that administrators are often the sole person in that role in their building, a PLN is even more useful to them that to many other positions.

Finding and evaluating information are critical skills leaders need if they are to implement positive changes in their organizations. Increasingly, practitioners are expected to contribute to the conversation as well. Technology makes this possible. Of course for the information that is really tough to find, you may need to turn to your school library media specialist.