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Running Head: ADMINISTRTORS AND THE DIGITAL AGE

Administrators and the Digital Age

Adam Jernigan

Coastal Carolina University

EDIT 760, Section D1

June 21, 2019

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Introduction

The Digital/Informational Age is described by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “the

modern age regarded as a time in which information has become a commodity that is quickly

and widely disseminated and easily available especially through the use of computer

technology” (Merriam-Webster, 2019). The Digital Age has brought about a digital culture

with advances in the field of education and changes in the processing of information in the

classroom. The digital age administrator is one that will promote positive educational

activities within the new digital culture.

Horry County Education Center has an administrative structure that employs the use of

employees from the school but also that of certain district office personnel to provide

technological support to teachers, and by extension students. This structure will be evaluated

and described based on the application of the following indicators for NETS-A Standard 2:

• Educational administrators ensure instructional innovation focused on continuous

improvement of digital-age learning.

• Educational administrators model and promote the frequent and effective use of

technology for learning.

• Educational administrators provide learner-centered environments equipped with

technology and learning resources to meet the individual, diverse needs of all learners.

• Educational administrators ensure effective practice in the study of technology and its

infusion across the curriculum.

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• Educational administrators promote and participate in local, national, and global

learning communities that stimulate innovation, creativity, and digital-age

collaboration.

Indicators

Indicator one requires that administrators ensure instructional innovation focused on

continuous improvement of digital-age learning. Horry County Education Center and their

administrative team have worked diligently to make changes to their instructional model.

Upon entry into the educational body, Mr. McCullough, the principal, focused on making

changes to the instructional model that would thrust Horry County Education Center into the

digital age of education. Moving from a more traditional instructional method to employing a

more digital instructional method with Edgenuity. The common theme among the

administrative team is that the concept is working and still growing towards perfection,

including that of the technology implementation.

One of the best places I have seen for administrators to model professional practices,

per indicator two, is in faculty meetings. Mr. McCullough and his administrative team

facilitate the use of technology and the data associated with the operations of the educational

body during faculty meetings that model the use of technology in the classroom and how

similar data can be used to efficiently facilitate learning. These practices range from

presentation technology implementation down to the incorporation of digital timers for pacing

the staff like a classroom. The incorporation of data is also important while we discuss the

modeling of technology, using technology requires the use of the data that is produces to help

guide the practices being used.

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Implementation of indicator three incorporates a learner-centered environment to

promote a digital culture in the educational body. One method employed by the

administrative team to achieve this indicator has been to provide more opportunity to develop

a sense of ownership towards education. One of the biggest changes at Horry County

Education Center in recent years has been the incorporation of brand-new Dell Chromebooks

to facilitate the use of Edgenuity. The coupling of the two has helped to create a program to

which students become the focus of the educational system and promote students taking

ownership of their learning.

Ronald Anderson and Sara Dexter stated, “Having a technology committee generally is

an organizational mechanism for developing consensus on technology visions and for

distributing the leadership function across different administrative and instructional staff”

(Anderson, R. E., & Dexter, S., 2005). The focus of indicator four is on the administration’s

infusion of technology and practice into the educational environment. The administrative

team of Horry County Education Center achieves this by employing the use of district office

personnel such as their Digital Integration Specialists to act as the technology committee for

the educational body. These personnel specialize in the incorporation of technology in the

classroom and help to bring best practice into the classroom to best meet the need of our

digital culture. Digital Integration Specialists are brought in to provide training for educators

and to provide research-based resources that can best influence the education of its students.

The administrative team sets up these meetings and coordinates with the district office to

provide these services for its educators.

Lastly, indicator five discusses the administrator’s incorporation of instructional

innovation focused on continuous improvement of digital-age learning. One of the

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requirements of the Digital Integration Specialist is the inclusion of multiple professional

development opportunities both locally and abroad. This district office team also includes

participation in certain blogs, wikis, and hangouts that include persons from around the world.

This is also true of the administrative team as Mr. McCullough was interviewed it became

apparent that many of his conferences included a combination of technology implementation

as coupled with behavioral education.

Summary

“The technology leader in a school is the person who mobilizes all school components by

using technological devices” (Banoglu, K., (2011). This statement could not be truer than in the

case of Horry County Education Center. The technology leader for this educational body can be

viewed from multiple perspectives as we view the roles of the Digital Integration Specialists and

the different members of the administrative team, but the conclusion falls from the culmination

of these resources based on the school administrator, Mr. McCullough’s, leadership towards the

promotion of learning under the digital culture’s paradigm.

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REFERENCES

Anderson, R. E., & Dexter, S. (2005). School technology leadership: An empirical investigation

of prevalence and effect. Educational Administration Quarterly, 41(1), 49-82.

Banoglu, K. (2011). School Principals' Technology Leadership Competency and Technology

Coordinatorship. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice, 11(1), 208-213.

Information Age. (2019). Retrieved June 21, 2019, from https://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/Information Age