Leadership in the Digital Age

I walk into a classroom to observe what is being presented as, “A 21st Century Classroom”. Do I see a class full of desks, students, and books? Not hardly! In fact each desk has a laptop computer with a headset, ICam and IPod attached. Students are engaged and using each piece of equipment in sync with classmates from around the world. The teacher is facilitating the discussion in a virtual online forum where each student has his/her own avatar. (Perkins, 2007) The student can manipulate the avatar to answer a problem on a white board, participate in small group discussions, pull a girl’s hair, and even chew gum. The student who may not be able to join in this lesson will have it loaded on to their IPod and be able to join later as a non-synchronistic student from home.

These students are digital natives, kids online since they were 3 or 4 years old. In an article, “Listen to the Natives”, from Educational Leadership, Marc Prensky defines the digital native as, “native speakers of technology, fluent in the digital language of computers, video games, and the Internet”. (Prensky, 2006, p.8) For the digital native the computer and internet are appendages of their body. Take it away and they don’t know how to learn. Learning for them is a world experience with no boundaries. They do not have the cultural boundaries, the information boundaries, or the limitations from the generation before. In his article from EduTopia, “The New Face of Learning”, Will Richardson writes, “most of us live in a world where, with access, knowledge is abundant, yet we have yet to reconsider our traditional school model, which is based on the obsolete idea that knowledge is scarce”. (Richardson, 2006, p.37) Talk about a generation gap!

To the administrator who is a “digital immigrant”, the 21st century classroom could be like walking onto an alien inhabited planet. Prensky defines the digital immigrant as those of us who were not born into the digital world. (Prensky, 2006) Nothing is traditional about this classroom. This administrator must choose, let go and learn from the kids or fear the unknown? The administrator of a 21st century school does not yet know what the issues will be. He/she does not have the experience. But the kids DO!! Will the administrator listen? Susan Patrick, Director of Educational Technology, United States Department of Education stated, “There is a new fervor in American education, a new creativity-driven in part by this generation of tech-savvy students – that bodes well for the future of our country. We must listen to our students.”(Watkins, 2005 p.65)

Education is now part of a competitive global economy. The United States is falling behind in this economy. According to a report written by The North American Council for Online Learning, “Virtual Schools and 21st Century Skills”, U.S. students are falling behind their peers internationally in innovation, creativity, and high tech training. “Students from around the world out perform U.S. students on assessments that measure 21st century skills.” (NACOL, 2006) Eighty four percent of employers say K-12 schools are not preparing students for the global workplace.( 2005 Skills Gap Report) Students who are prepared with 21st century skills are self directed learners, able to use appropriate technology to process and present information, have the ability to manage their time, and have an awareness of global responsibility.

To effectively administrate in today’s world a shift must happen. Karl Fisch states in his UTube video, “Shift Happens”, “we are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t exist…. in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.” He continues with statistics like, 50% of US 21-year-old’s have produced web content, 70% of US 4-year-olds have used a computer, and the amount of technical information available is predicted to double every 72 hours by 2010. (Fisch, 2006)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U&feature=related

Leadership in the digital age starts with an understanding of the importance of digital educational, being able to learn from the stakeholders, and allowing for a shift in ideals. In the book “Schools That Learn”, Peter Senge states that there are five organizational learning disciplines that constitute a successfully learning organization: personal mastery, systems thinking, mental models, shared vision, and team learning. (Senge, 2000) When incorporating these principals into the whole school setting, an administrator can find his/her way through the uncertainty of leadership in the digital age.

By: Traci Filiss