An Open Letter to Administrators

Dear Administrators,

You do not have to be tech-savvy to lead a school down the path of successful tech integration.  However, you do need to surround yourself with staff members who are tech fluent and willing to share. You also must be willing to collaborate with these staff members, and you must be charasmatic enough to get everyone on board with a shared mission of moving your school into the 21st century. 

My letter to you does not harp on that component as much as it harps on your tech literacy.  One major tip for you if you are an administrator who is not tech savvy--join Twitter.

• Every educator, at the very least, should have an active Twitter account. Gone are the days where email is the source of online connectivity.  Twitter is like a 24-hour professional development conference where everyone can actively participate and voice their opinions and input. Here is a short how-to to get you started. 
• When you are asked to create a username, keep it professional--first and last name, first initial and last name, last name only--any of these options should suffice.  Add a profile picture that is also professional or plays to your professional personality.
• Once you are on Twitter, follow some of the leaders in education on Twitter, especially Eric Sheninger (@NMHS_Principal), Will Richardson (@willrich45), Tom Whitby (@tomwhitby), Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo), Shelly Terrell (@ShellTerrell), and Vicki Davis (@coolcatteacher). These are my personal favorites...and in no particular order.
• Next, start following hashtags like #Edtech, #Edchat, #ce12.  These hashtags are for conversations in educational technology, general education, and conneced educators in 2012.  When you follow these hashtags, you will see a lot of people sharing tweets on these topics.  Join in the conversation, or "lurk" for a while and see if there are other educators in these conversations you would like to follow.
• Finally, take the things you learn on Twitter and apply them in the real world--get your department charimen and teacher-leaders involved in school change or school discussion on how to improve your school environment and shift toward a 21st century school.  Host weekly or bi-monthly tweet-ups with your staff to share concerns or developments in your school.  Your ability to show transparency in your communication with staff will go a long way in getting them on board with changes you wish to implement.

Again, you do not have to be tech savvy as an administrator in education today, but you should show an eagerness and willingness to learn and surround yourself with teacher-leaders who can step up to lead professional development in ways that engage the entire staff in technology education.  We must get our schools into the 21st century now because our students will suffer if we hesitate.