Article by Jen Lamkins, Ed.D., Lakeside School
Consider the technology that helps your school function. From the department level on up, where is technology not present? What would happen if there were no technology in your area, from power and internet access to projectors to curriculum applications? Technology is involved in almost every aspect of administration, teaching and communication at independent schools, and it typically operates 24 hours a day. So why don’t more CIOs, CTOs and directors of technology sit at their school’s leadership table?
Among independent school organizational charts, the placement of technology departments and staff is as varied as the schools themselves. Some schools divide information technology and academic technology into different departments. Some put IT within the business office or facilities department. Many small schools have only one technology person, possibly a teacher on special assignment, and outsource most technology services. Yet almost regardless of how a school is organized, there are very few places or instances during a typical school day that technology does not play a significant role.
And this is the problem. Technology has become too integral to school operations for it to be compartmentalized. I have witnessed many disconnects in school planning and operations that result from organizational silos, lack of expertise and fragmented communication involving technology leadership. Here are some common examples:
- A department buys equipment requiring certain network, software and/or hardware configurations that the school’s current technology does not support.
- A head of school returns from a conference with a new, internet-dependent device and announces plans to order one for each faculty member to use with students in the coming year. Unfortunately, the school’s network infrastructure is too old to support so many devices.
- A teacher assigns students a website that the technology department has blocked due to age restrictions, links to inappropriate content or security vulnerabilities (many sites are “free” due to support from sites with malware).
- Leaders commission a new campus building, bringing in the technology team only after the fact to “plug in” the network.
Regardless of who at your school makes certain technology decisions — whether department heads, teachers, the head of school, the board or a tech committee — these individuals should know about the technology leader’s expertise and include him or her in conversations about current capacity and future needs.
In each of these cases, it’s a safe bet that school leaders view the technology department as either a deterrent, or at best a stepping stone, to progress.
How to avoid these situations? I believe schools make better technology decisions by approaching them systemically. Regardless of who at your school makes certain technology decisions — whether department heads, teachers, the head of school, the board or a tech committee — these individuals should know about the technology leader’s expertise and include him or her in conversations about current capacity and future needs. “Have you thought of this?...” he or she might helpfully say. Or, “Actually, we have a system to address this already. Let me tell you what it is and what it provides, and you let me know if it meets your needs.” Or, “What do you want students to be able to do? What is your goal with the technology?”
As a member of the leadership team at Lakeside School, I contribute to school decision-making on a systemic level not only as the technology director, but also as an educator and systems thinker. I am able to see how the school works systemically and how we can better serve students, faculty and staff technologically as well as academically and socially. I have developed relationships with department heads to advocate for all divisions and departments within the whole organization when it comes to technology, teaching and learning.
As we address new technologies, initiatives and business issues related to 21st-century school operations, I believe it can only benefit independent schools to have technology leaders who are service-oriented and visionary educators and technologists. With their seat at the leadership table, these individuals will listen to, question, advise and support the entire school community.
Jen Lamkins, Ed.D., is the director of technology at Lakeside School, in Seattle, Washington. In previous positions, she was the first chief technology officer at the Bolles School and the technology integration specialist at Harvard-Westlake School. Her doctorate is in educational technology, a topic she has taught at all levels from K–12 through post-graduate for more than 25 years.
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