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Teachers Leading with Technology: Digital Learning Day

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Teachers acting as a technology leader in schools is a much discussed, but not always well-defined idea. Being a leader connotes taking charge of people or situations to generate positive activities and meaningful change. Leadership is a highly valued attribute in our society; the media is filled with stories about the importance of leaders in business, politics, sports and entertainment. In those arenas, leaders are seen as the key to organizational success—the President leads the country, a CEO leads a company, and a point guard leads a basketball team. But how do teachers, particularly college students who are just entering the profession, become leaders? A teacher is not in charge of a school district’s curriculum, organizational budget, or day-to-day operation. Individual teachers seem to have minimal impact on educational policy, locally or nationally. Many teachers have told us they feel isolated and powerless as agents of change in educational systems. However, leadership is not exclusively defined by someone’s position within an organizational or political hierarchy. Teachers are inherently leaders in their classrooms. They are the ones who make education happen for their students. Curriculum standards and academic concepts remain words on paper till a teacher creates learning experiences that give those ideas meaning for students. Every day, through countless actions and interactions, teachers are leaders in the education of students. Teachers also become leaders through their choice and use of technology. Computers, the Internet, and Web 2.0 tools are “disruptive innovations” that have the potential to alter existing patterns of teaching and learning in schools (Christensen, et. al., 2008). Indeed, as two technology educators noted, “there are deep incompatibles between the demands of the new technologies and the traditional classroom” (Collins & Halverson, 2009, p. 6). Integrating new technologies in teaching is a first step in making that teacher a technology-leading educator. Largely teacher-centered educational practices are not easily sustained when teachers use new technologies regularly. For example, since it is possible for students to simply ask their phone for answers to factual questions, how sensible it is for teachers to continue devoting large amounts of class time to fact-based lectures and drill and practice worksheets. In a digital age, teachers can no longer be mainly dispensers of factual information. Students need and will demand more inquiry-based, project-oriented activities that use interactive technologies during school class time. Teachers who develop such activities will become not only leaders in their own classroom, but in their school, district, and stat as well. Supporting teachers who want to become technology leaders is one of the primary goals of Digital Learning Day, a technology learning initiative sponsored by the Alliance for Excellent Education in Washington, D.C. The first Digital Learning Day was held on February 1, 2012 (2.1.12) with more than 30 states and the District of Columbia holding digital learning ceremonies and events. Digital Learning Day uses three main strategies to promote greater awareness about the impacts of digital learning in schools. New teachers can use these same strategies to guide their own technology leadership efforts. Digital Learning Day recommends:
 * ** Starting a conversation in person or online about computers and education ** . As you express your ideas about technology, you develop your voice as a technology-using educator.
 * ** Trying new teaching strategies and educational technology tools on a regular basis ** . Using new approaches puts you in a continuous learning mode as a teacher and prevents you from becoming stagnant in your professional learning.
 * ** Showcasing innovative practices using social media. ** By letting other teachers, students, and families know about your digital learning efforts, you build a wider community of people committed to using technology for teaching and learning.

Teachers and students alike will benefit immensely from models for how to use technology creatively and from recognition of their efforts to integrate technology in schools. As someone new to the profession, you can be a leader in both areas while promoting better education and improved learning for everyone.