Principals as Technology Leaders: The Result of anExploratory MixedStudy in Smart Schools of Tehran
Subject Areas : EducationH. R Zeinabadi 1 , مریم Mohammadvand 2
1 - دانشیار و عضو هیأت علمی، گروه مدیریت آموزشی، دانشکده مدیریت، دانشگاه خوارزمی
2 - دانش آموخته کارشناسی ارشد، گروه مدیریت آموزشی، دانشکده مدیریت، دانشگاه خوارزمی
Keywords: teachers, Principals, educational technology, technology Leadership, smart schools,
Abstract :
Technology leadership is an emergent field in school leadership literature and suggests that school principals play a proactive role in implementing technology in their schools. Current Iranian knowledge about this role is very scarce. The aim of current exploratory mixed research (qualitative-quantitative) was to investigate principals’ role in integrating technology at schools. Initially in qualitative phase of the study, educational technology experts were interviewed. The participants were selected using purposive and snow-ball sampling. The results of content analysis and coding of interviews revealed 58 indicators and 9 dimensions including: principals'''' belief to employ technology, illustrating technology objectives and expectations, technology planning, establishing and reinforcing the culture of utilizing technology, teachers'''' empowerment for utilizing technology; encouraging and stimulating teachers to employ technology; appraisal of teachers'''' technology performance, strengthening the sharing of technology knowledge, and technology support. Using the identified indicators and dimensions, a Technology Leadership (TL) questionnaire was designed and developed by the researcher to gather quantitative data. 335 teachers were, then, selected from smart schools of Tehran and were requested to complete the questionnaires. The collected data were analyzed using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The result of CFA revealed that the measurement model of TL has fit suitably to the observed data. This study highlights the role of principals in technology integration by teachers and recommends TL variable and questionnaire to researchers. The results are discussed in the final section of the paper.
-
Anderson, R. E., & Dexter, S. (2005). School technology leadership: An empirical investigation of prevalence and effect. Educational Administration Quarterly, 41(1), 49-82.
Bayhan, P., Olgun, P., & Yelland, N. (2002). A study of pre-school teachers’ thoughts about computer assisted instruction. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 3(2), 298–303.
Byrne, B. M. (2013). Structural equation modeling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming. Routledge.
Chang, I. H. (2012). The Effect of principals' technological leadership on teachers' technological literacy and teaching effectiveness in Taiwanese elementary schools. Educational Technology & Society, 15(2), 328-340.
Chang, I. H., Chin, J. M., & Hsu, C. M. (2008). Teachers' perceptions of the dimensions and implementation of technology leadership of principals in Taiwanese elementary schools. Educational Technology & Society, 11(4), 229-245.
Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design, choosing among five approaches, 2nd edition, California: Sage publication.
Giles, D. C. (2002). Advanced research methods in psychology: New York: Rout ledge.
Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (2009). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Transaction Publishers.
Grady, M. L. (2011). Leading the technology-powered school. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2009). National educational technology standards for administrators. Eugene, OR: Author.
Jackson, D. (2009). Relationship between principals' technological leadership and their schools' implementation of instructional technology. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Georgia Southern University.
Jones, A. (2004). A review of the research literature on barriers to the uptake of ICT by teachers. Coventry: Becta.
Kozloski, K. (2006). Principal leadership for technology integration: A study of principal technology leadership. Unpublisheddoctoral dissertation, Drexel University.
Littlejohn, A., Suckling, C., Campbell, L., & McNicol, D. (2002). The amazingly patient tutor: students’ interactions with an online carbohydrate chemistry course. British Journal of Educational Technology, 33(3), 313-321.
Macaulay, L. (2009). Elementary principals as technology instructional leaders. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Towson University.
McMillan, J. H., & Schumacher, S. (2001). Research in education: A conceptual introduction, 5th edition. New York: Adison Wesley Longman, Inc.
Metcalf, W. B. (2012). K-12 principals' perceptions of their technology leadership preparedness. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia.
O'Neill, N. K. (1999). Preparing technology-competent leadership. Teaching in Educational Administration, 6(2), 1-5.
Page-Jones, A. B. (2008). Leadership behavior and technology activities: The relationship between principals and technology use in schools. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.
Plano Clark, V., Creswell, J., O'Neil Green, D., & Shope, R. (2008). Mixing quantitative and qualitative approaches: An introduction to emergentmixed methods research. In: S. HesseBiber & P. Leavy (Eds.) Handbook of emergent methods, New York: The Guilford Press.
Rogers, B. A. (2000). The correlation between teachers' perceptions of principals' technology leadership and the integration of educational technology. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Ball State University, Indiana
Ross, T. W, & Baily, G. D. (1996).Technology_based learning: A handbook for teachers and technologa leaders(Rev.ed.). Arlington Heights, IL:IRI/Skylight.
Schrum, L., Galizio, L. M., & Ledesma, P. (2011). Educational leadership and technology integration: An investigation into preparation, experiences, and roles. Journal of School Leadership, 21(2), 241-261.
Scott, G. (2005). Educator perceptions of principal technology leadership competencies. Unpublished doctoral Dissertation, University ofOklahoma.
Stegall, P. (1998). The Principal – Key to Technology Implementation. Paper presented at the 95th annual meeting of the National Catholic Education Association, Los Angeles, April.
Strauss, A. L., & Corbin, J. M. (1990). Basics of qualitative research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Zeinabadi, H., & Faeli, M. (2013). Principal's technology leadership and teacher's technology acceptance: Changing, testing and introducing a model. Quarterly Journal of Education, 29(4), 83-106. (In Persian).