District Administration - April 2012 - (Page 56)

supervisor’s opinion • eamonn o’Donovan Technology solutions for Busy school Administrators These six ideas can help you work more efficiently and effectively. I’m not a LuddIte, or even a technophobe. I just don’t have time to waste on technology that promises the world but fails to deliver. I’m the “show me” administrator, the doubting Thomas of school leaders. I write not about the latest and greatest technology for those administrators on the avant garde. rather, this is a cautionary tale about letting the digital cognoscenti dash ahead to pastures new while we figure out how tried and tested technology can help us now. as busy school administrators, time is our greatest resource. unfortunately, time is in short supply, and many of us live with the simple reality that we can’t get it all done. technology holds the promise of increased productivity, but it often devolves to just another task to manage. It can devour time, not save it. How many of us have tried a new gadget only to put it down in frustration as it fails to work with what we already do? Time is of the essence many of us administrators recognize the inherent capability of technology to improve productivity, but we feel bewildered by the clamor for attention from the latest gadgets that promise to change our lives. We retreat. This engenders a feeling that we are not quite keeping up. to compound this guilt, we see our newer teachers on the cutting edge of technology. These early adopters put us to shame with the facility with which they use the latest tools to interact with their professional and personal world. and, of course, the only world our students have ever known is a connected technological one. I was once on the cutting edge of technology. as a mentor teacher in instructional technology, I tried out the latest 56 April 2012 and greatest hardware and software. I had less time for that as I moved into administration, and some of those technological skills atrophied. However, an underlying philosophy, learned the hard way through hitting technological dead ends, remained. a lot of technology vies for my attention, but I use the following principles to evaluate what I will actually use: 1. I must talk to early adopters and learn from them. 2. I must avoid the first generation of new devices, software or apps. 3. any tool I decide to use must enhance my productivity. 4. The cost must be directly proportional to the tool’s utility. Finding the root of the problem With this in mind, I take a pass on much of the technology I read about. Instead, I try to identify obstacles that prevent me from working efficiently and effectively, and only then do I look to a possible solution via technology. But I talk to my techsavvy administrators first! If you don’t know one, go to one of the administrator blogs; you’ll find a willing expert there. With this in mind, here are a few problems that tech-savvy and efficiency-minded administrators have addressed by using technology. In many cases, they have adopted newer technology to enhance the technology they already find useful. I need to open multiple files on my computer, but when I do this, the screen gets cluttered. do you need a bigger monitor to view the multiple files open? no. add a second computer monitor. I know, this sounds like overkill. The first time I saw a principal with two monitors attached to his office computer I joked about how it looked like he was piloting a plane. Following my principle of speaking to early adopters, though, I was soon convinced. I have two monitors in my office, which have greatly enhanced my ability to produce more work. I can look at two documents simultaneously. This may not be earthshatteringly new or innovative, but I can work faster sliding documents across each screen. merging documents and cutting and pasting become much easier. my email accumulates so quickly that I struggle to keep up. I am out of my office often, and it is difficult to keep up with email. I tried using a smartphone to check email while I was out and about. It was very handy for reading short emails, but I actually groaned when I got emails with attachments. I needed something bigger than a phone but just as mobile. While a laptop was too bulky, an iPad fit the bill. For email alone, the iPad is worth the investment. It is easy to use, syncs over District Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - April 2012

District Administration - April 2012
Contents
From the Editor
News Update
Special Ed Update
Facilities Update
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Robust and Safe BYOD
Success Breeds Success
Funding Building Projects in a Tough Economy
Widening Participation to an IB Education
Why All the Chatter about #EdChat?
Supervisor’s Opinion
Going Mobile
New Directions
Crisis Response
Student Counsel
Product Focus
Online Edge

District Administration - April 2012