Educational Leadership and Technology

Leadership for Technology Enhanced Education

Organization of paper

This paper is divided into 4 sections. In section one, the paper begins by presenting a brief overview that includes how the paper is organized. Following this, the paper presents and defines the construct, Technology Education Leadership, and discusses the significance of the chosen concept. Then, the paper presents and describes the one seminal article identified, which is most central to Technology Education Leadership.

Thereafter in part 2, the paper presents seminal audit research table that summarizes and presents the content of 12 research articles that utilize and build on the concept of technology Education Leadership. In this section a literature table composed of four columns is created populated with the research findings. The table columns include title of the article, author(s) of article, article synopsis and contributions to the chosen construct.

Thereafter in part 3, the paper discusses the content of the table created in part 2 of the assignment. Beginning with the seminal article presented in Part 1, this section discusses how the construct has evolved over time. It describes key articles in the historical thread and highlight how they contributed to the advancement of the seminal work. This section looks for and analyzes patterns across the different articles. This section is concluded by discussing the current view of the construct in research and practice.

In part 4, the paper provides a conclusion by addressing three questions: (1) As a result of completing the audit, what has been learnt about the construct? (2) What further research needs to be conducted to generate additional knowledge about the construct? (3) In what ways did this assignment help with thinking through how I might pursue my doctoral research literature review?

Defining the chosen construct and its significance

The chosen construct educational leadership. This is because, today, educational organizations have become subject to a number of challenges. Dealing with these challenges requires educational leadership to successfully manage swift changes within the educational settings, technological growth and development, increasing student diversity and varied expectations, increasing learner awareness and curiosity, and the like. Confronting these challenges managing them effectively, educational institutions ought to embrace leaders who assume a specific set of traits, attitude as well as skill-set so as to deal with the current complexities in the educational realm.

Description of one seminal article identified

Technology Education Leadership is a relatively new field. I plan to research social media and adaptive learning influence on literacy skills. I selected this article because it deals with leadership and technology. My interests relate more to literacy and technology, but this article makes a good comprise for the parameters of the assignment. The article describes the rapidly revolutionizing atmosphere in technology (as it was at the time). It also illustrates paradigm shifts that commanded the macro change of technology- enriched education. The following issues are evaluated issues: (1) How higher education administrators and educators can assist institutions in adapting to this change; (2) whether efforts should be consolidated or dispersed; and (3) what pioneering leadership skills are needed. His research will prove to be very useful in my line of work and research.

Part 2: Seminal Audit Research Table (4-5 pages)

Title of the Article

Author(s) of Article

Article Synopsis

Contribution

Evolution of Situational Leadership theory: A critical review; leadership quarterly, 8-2, 1997.

Claude, L. Graeff

The study summarizes the original SLT critique, which was introduced by Graeff in 1981 and then elaborates the changes the theory has undergone since then in the academic literature. The study also presents the theory's strengths and limitations, as well as, crucial issues pertaining to the theory. Its concept model and concept's uncertainty being incomplete and irrational is also debated. Results of various peer reviewed articles, which made efforts to validate the results, are also discussed in the paper.

This study revealed why it is important to successfully manage internal and external conflicts in order to produce effective results.

Distributed

Leadership. The Educational Forum; 69-2, 2005.

James, P Spillane

This study has addressed to the question: "What does it mean to take a distributed perspective on school leadership?" The author neither intends to offer diverse effects of the different perceptions nor wants to acknowledge the description of the "one best." He intends to outlay his own definition rather than the standard stock definition of distributed leadership. A synopsis of distributed leadership with key points, notions, and a definite description is outlined. The author next addresses the impacts of distributive leadership on people, a group of individuals, events and organization's paradigm. Lastly, he has modeled the example of wine vendors and delved on the model's implication for experimentation, research and application in the real world for the evolution of leadership.

This study helped shed light on why conceptualization and planning is vital for the macro-level change of technology integration within the educational realm.

Ethical leadership: A review and future directions; The Leadership Quarterly 17, 595 -- 616, 2006.

Michael E. Brown; and Linda K. Trevino

This literature review emphasis on the evolving concept of the ethical leadership pertaining to this concept with other correlated concepts that have a common factor of morality and ethics towards leadership. The authors identify the connection between ethics and leadership propose suggestions about the originators of the concept and the consequences of the ethical leadership. The authors also identify the future issues and address these issues with research and the implication of the hypotheses. They also discussed a review that the ethical leadership is an unexplored genre and have offered researchers opportunity to work with them and make new discoveries in this genre to improvise and advance the theory.

This study proved why it is important to build strategic alliances with both shareholders and stakeholders.

Trait-Based Perspectives of Leadership. American Psychologist, 2007.

Stephen J. Zaccaro

Peculiar perception of the leadership traits is well elaborated and proven by many scholars. The author in this study debates that the trait approach had been rife in the initial years of research. Afterwards, when shaping the background they despised the theory because of its insularity between the leaders and non-leaders. It is also documented about the failure of approach in diverse events, situations and perceptions. The author's critique suggests that instead of many singular traits one can link many integral concepts and traits to form a more acceptable leadership. Nevertheless, the study also point towards the issues faced due to singular or dominant trait patterns that conversely impacts the stability of an organization and leads to diversions from one singular path. Lastly, the author concludes with a multi-stage concept that details some influential leadership traits which have more impact on the qualities of the leadership.

This study revealed why it is important to successfully manage internal and external conflicts in order to produce effective results.

Embracing Transformational Leadership: Team Values and the Impact of Leader Behavior on Team Performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92-4, 1020 -- 1030, 2007.

Sandra E. Cha

This critique has author examined the relationship between the transformational leadership behavior and team functions and operations. This study was conducted in Hong Kong and United States and the subjects for this study had been 218 finance teams. Its results showed that team potency and team performance are correlated to the transformational leadership. The author elaborates the impacts of the transformational leadership has on team potency, the team collective-ness and team motivation. It showed that higher power distance teams are more performance oriented productive teams that displayed the stronger impacts of transformational leadership on a team's effectiveness. The author supported the concept with data emerging from both the countries, which showed strong signs of convergence in exactly how a team operates in the East and the West. The high spots of the signification of the team ethics, values and morals are also included in this study.

This study helped us prove why building internal and external political support for increased funding models has proven to be a vital sub-construct to support technology enhanced education.

Asking the Right Questions About Leadership:

Discussion and Conclusions. American Psychologist, 2007.

J. Richard Hackman and Ruth Wageman

The researchers in this study focused on five key questions emerging from the special issue on leadership of the American Psychologist in January 2007. Firstly, under what circumstances/situations is leadership important? how do personal attributes of leaders allow them to interact in specific situations to fashion results? Is the idea of high and low leadership qualitatively a distinct prodigy? how can leadership theories be redesigned so that they are able to deal with all associates as not just followers but also leaders? And Lastly, what is the best way to help leaders learn?

This study revealed why it is important to successfully manage internal and external conflicts in order to produce effective results.

Leadership Style and Team Processes in Self-Managed Teams. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies. 14: 332, 2008.

Stephanie T. Solansky

The researcher in this study claims that the merits of team leadership have been largely discussed due to its impact on the team operation, performance and development. In this study the author addresses the questions about how a team can progress within the self- managed group that practices and develops various leadership styles. He reviews and uses shared and single leadership style as his theories. The results of this study show that the teams with shared leaders concept have motivational and perceptive advantages in comparison to the teams who suffer a standard approach of depending on a solo leadership style. The author concludes his paper by exploring results, significance and recommends future research opportunities.

This study showed us why finding creative ways to celebrate, reinforce and appreciate successes is critical for workforce motivation and commitment; especially in the context of technology integration in the educational realm.

Classical leadership. Encyclopaedia of Informal Education, 2001.

Michele Erina Doyle and Mark K. Smith.

Both Michele Erina Doyle and Mark K. Smith explore the idea of leadership. The authors investigated the current and past approaches on the subject of the leadership traits and behaviors. This concept is now recognized as a contingency theory. Lastly, the authors have addressed the more innovative theories of "transformational theories" and issues pertaining to the leadership practice

This study revealed why it is important to successfully manage internal and external conflicts in order to produce effective results.

Leadership at the Top: Some Insights from a Longitudinal Case Study of a UK Business School. Educational Management Administration & Leadership 2009.

Allan P.O. Williams

The author recently conducted a study on a UK-based business school wherein its history was researched and its developmental key points were documented. The research data indicated had been influenced by the repetitive methodology that had been exercised. The results indicate towards the theories and the basic concept utilization that included; free system, strength, unity force fields etc. The author suggests two models for the development of critical ecological and structural variables that the principle of the school has to prioritize to maintain the school's environment. The author also suggested three crucial aspects of the dean that he/she needs to practice they are; timely examination of the priorities that is correlated to the innovative strategic dilemmas, regulating and supervising the connections with the external stakeholders and managing/supervising the changes in the culture of the school. The author also identified the potential value of the spreading academic deans with those of business school deans.

This study helped shed light on why conceptualization and planning is vital for the macro-level change of technology integration within the educational realm.

An Empirical Study of Leader Ethical Values, Transformational and Transactional Leadership, and Follower Attitudes Toward Corporate Social Responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics. 103:511 -- 528, 2011.

Kevin S. Groves

And

Michael A. LaRocca

The authors claim that many ethical scholars debate and suggest that the transitional leadership method is well proven on the diverse sets of ethical moral values in comparison to transactional leadership. However, the hypothetical studies suggest that deontological ethics should be correlated to the transitional leadership and transactional leadership should be correlated to the teleological ethics. Nonetheless, only meager research is found to support this concept. Additionally, in spite of demands made for heightened focus towards the link between how leaders impact their followers' views about the significant of ethics as well as corporate social responsibility (CSR), no clinical study has evaluated the influence of transactional and transformational leadership on follower CSR views and attitudes. Data collected from 122 company managers and 458 supporters from around the world pointed head Deontological ethical values (Like Kantian principles, universal rights, etc.) were most influential with the supporters' evaluation of transitional leadership and teleological ethical values pertaining to transactional leadership. As forecasted by the scholars, the established transformational leadership was correlated with the supporters of stakeholder perception about CSR. The significance of this concept study, its effects, practice, research dimensions and education of management, ethics are also majorly discussed.

This study helped us prove why building internal and external political support for increased funding models has proven to be a vital sub-construct to support technology enhanced education.

When power makes others speechless:

The negative impact of leader power on team performance: The negative impact of leader power on team performance. Academy of Management Journal, Forthcoming.

Leigh Plunkett Tost,

Francesca Gino and Richard P. Larrick

The authors review the influence and impact of power on leadership interaction as well as team performance. The results of the study indicate that the mental impact of power upon leaders trickles down to influence team performance. The authors claim that leader's encounter with increased power results in verbal supremacy, which cuts down team interaction and as a result decreases team performance. It is noteworthy that since these dynamics depend on the consent of other team members towards the leader's influential demeanor, the impact only materializes in case the leader maintains a recognized and official leadership rank. The implications for leadership model and application are additionally reviewed.

This study showed us why finding creative ways to celebrate, reinforce and appreciate successes is critical for workforce motivation and commitment; especially in the context of technology integration in the educational realm.

A Review of the Literature Concerning Ethical Leadership in Organizations; Emerging Leadership Journeys. 5-1, pp. 56-66, 2012.

Kelly Monahan

This article investigates the literature of ethical leadership. The author has included approximately 38 peer-reviewed articles that focused majorly on the four disciplines, i.e. Morality of a leader, impact of ethical leaders on its followers, the major issues faced by the ethical leaders and personal integrity; followed by the description of ethical leadership. It is noted by the author that ethical leadership is complex in nature and is a new concept and needs lots of exploration. The most popular topics covered are how necessary it is to acquire knowledge about the ethical leadership and develop faith and apply it in practice. The author also identified advantages and disadvantages of this concept and has also included the limitations to the study and urged further exploration to the subject.

This study helped us prove why building internal and external political support for increased funding models has proven to be a vital sub-construct to support technology enhanced education.

Part 3: Seminal Review

Simerly (1999) notices the existing large-scale modification in the arrangement of the scholastic system. His assertion is that using online technology to enhance the scholastic system is having an effect on the teaching-learning process in every part of the learning system from K-12 to advanced schooling. Till about the year 1993, a majority of people were not using the World Wide Web, which is the comprehensible interface part of the Internet. The current expansion of the Internet and World Wide Web has ensured that PCs have become the backbone of virtually every schooling institution and business entities. What's more, as long as one is connected to the Internet they will not find it hard to access data from any part of the world. Such kind of large-scale modification is having an effect on the teaching-learning process in a very significant manner. As a matter of fact, the change that is occurring is also very quick and so many people feel as if they must dash in order to stay abreast with events of years gone by. Consequently Simerly shifts his focus on the expertise required to deliver groundbreaking direction for a model change in schooling. His argument is that there are many different types of expertise that are needed in order to deliver effectual leadership for ongoing providers of education who are dealing with technology enhanced education- even if it is technology enhanced education on university grounds or which is given via correspondence schooling actions. Amongst these skills are capabilities to perform the ensuing:

Conceptualize and plan for institutional macro change.

Simerly (1999) puts forth the argument that a few modifications are unintentional. Other modifications are strategized. When talking about the sort of institutional macro modifications needed to move technology enhanced education into everyday organizational life he says that this must be purposely strategized. Benevolent abandonment or directionless methods to this sort of vital modification very seldom has permanent accomplishment. This means that if a person strategizes methods to regulate the macro change of assimilating technology enhanced education into the curriculums then these modifications need to be planned in a careful manner and in ways that are intended to generate wide inner as well as outer organized sustentation. Spillane (2005) puts forth the argument in his essay that modifications can only happen through strategizing. He also talks about tales of leadership achievements that have a certain edifice: a magnetic spearhead, who is in most cases the Chief Executive Officer or head of the school and who shoulders the responsibility of leading an educational institute that is laboring to succeed. He or she will establish a fresh set of objectives and opportunities and will challenge the concept of business-as-usual in the educational setting. The spearhead person will also develop fresh organizational routines and edifices that in due course of time will transform the ethos of the school, and improve pupil accomplishment. Williams (2009) stresses the idea of change with continuity. The time needed for fruitful technological assimilation to happen emphasizes the gravity of steadiness all through the change process. Due to the fact that principals serve for about four years, it is necessary for an administration scheme to be in place to allow for steadiness and modifications.

Build strategic alliances:

Simerly (1999) also makes the assertion that this happens to be a beginning in so far as constructing wide inner and outer institutional support for technology enhanced education goes. Planned coalitions ought to be constructed with faculty councils, state-owned schooling organizations, bosses of our alumnae, lawmakers who provide endowment to our institutes, and the pupils who receive schooling augmentations. A general part of strategizing for such a macro change ought to be carefully and deliberately built with planned coalitions whose aim is to facilitate modifications. However, in order to build strategic alliances, instructive guidance should be perceived as effectual and virtuous. Brown and Trevino (2006) pointed out in their study that effectual and ethical leadership has certain characteristics including honesty, being caring, and it involves honorable people whose decisions are made in a just and equitable manner. Virtuous leaders will very often connect with their supporters regarding morals. They will also lay down clear moral values and make use of carrot and stick means to ensure that their values are properly adhered to. Virtuous leaders are not only concerned about talking big- they will also put into practice the things that they are preaching and will become hands-on role exemplars for honorable behavior.

Find creative ways to celebrate and reinforce successes.

Simerly (1999) also makes the assertion that repeatedly advanced schooling establishments become their own wickedest adversaries. A well-loved story is doing the rounds in advanced schooling groups talks about schooling organizations where after conflicts, battles and discussions they come back to shoot their own survivors. In blunt terms, life in the academic world is founded on a model in which ideas are critiqued on a constant basis. The result is that it becomes very easy for the establishment to criticize their own successes by terming them as low-standard-they should have made a bigger effort or should have involved better persons-instead of identifying proper means to rejoice in their achievements. The plain truth is that such establishments do and will succeed many times. Assigning accountability and allotting roles can really conquer this absence of gratitude. Take the case when Solanky (2008) made the argument that conventional tactic to guidance basically takes the view that the leader is the central focus point, a fundamental dispensation nodule that shoulders responsibility. Viewing the leader as the main point of attention delivers an extraordinary foundation for defining the path and enabling climate, incentive and personality. In many instances when people think about a singular leader they are only following a remnant of anthropoid civilizations that for millions of years were of the view that proper governance was only possible through a powerful person whose legality could not be questioned. A decentralized system will encourage its workforce more often because shared responsibility will probably reduce personal hidden agendas and bias. Tost, Gino and Larrick (2011) extend the idea of shared responsibility given by Solanky (2008). Their investigation highlights the point that it can be vital for administrations and assemblies to act in order to minimalize the adverse resultants of the leader control on team presentation. Such an objective can be pursued in many different ways. One possibility is to minimalize the mental involvement of control among leaders by preserving a comparatively level organizational edifice and democratic philosophy. Another possibility is for organizations to interfere at the level of the go-between, train leaders to nurture advanced levels of openness and to provide encouragement for open team communications. In the same vein, administrations may put into place practices and guidelines that help to caution leaders about the vital contributions their subordinates have the ability to generate, and so will prompt these leaders that those who work with them are contributing to the pursuit of common objective.

Build internal and external political support for funding models to support technology enhanced education.

Simerly (1999) also stresses the fact that technology enhanced education is expensive. To provide technical infrastructure to help with technology enhanced education means incurring lots of costs. These costs include constant advancement of existing infrastructure, and there are other ongoing costs associated with certain kinds of workers without whom the practical infrastructure can neither be created nor maintained. More and more academies and institution of higher education have come to realize that such costs can involve many millions of dollars on a yearly basis and that only through levying technology fees on students can the funds be raised to meet such costs. The money obtained from such a fee is then utilized for the creation and maintenance of the complicated frame needed for the maintenance of brilliance in these undertakings. Therefore, strong and powerful leadership is needed to drive the agenda of technological integration into the educational realm. Cha (2007) in her study provides 4 ways leaders can induce potency into their teams. To begin with, transformational leaders are confident that their squad can attain aspiring joint objectives. The self-assurance of leaders can trickle down on the members' confidence and make technology integration highly effective. The next thing is that transformational leader model desired conducts and also provides encouragement to their supporters to take part in scrutiny. This kind of guidance can deliver to squad members an improved comprehension of how best to tackle their jobs and this ought to also fortify their beliefs that they will succeed in executing the conducts and scrutiny's required for successful technology integration into the educational realm. Thirdly, transformational leaders will display apprehension for the needs of their supporters. This kind of apprehension will in turn help to encourage a confidence among the members of the squad that their leader is providing them all the help and assistance required during the assimilation stage. Lastly, transformational leaders also deliver co-operation among the members of the squad. These kinds of efforts will help to inculcate in the members of the squad that whatever divergences they have during the assimilation phase will be decided without doing harm to the squad presentation or the process of technology integration.

With increased levels of funding, comes greater responsibility to utilize those funds effectively and efficiently. Ethical leadership ought to be at the heart of all educational organizations dealing with technology integration. Groves and Larocca (2011) in an investigation conducted by them came to find that schooling institutions will benefit by encouraging additional official valuation of the moral values of their leaders and cultivate a benign response apparatus to improve executive self-awareness of important backgrounds to actual leadership. Because of greater formalization of ongoing valuation and leadership style response via multi-source/360 degree tools in greater numbers of schooling institutions, human resource experts will do well to integrate better stress on standards, principled attitude, and honest cognition as key mechanisms of leadership valuation and growth. Extending the role of ethical leaders in today's organizations, Monahan (2012) has recognized 45 snares within moral leadership in the investigation. According to the author, such snares involved 3 separate classes; fundamental, self-protective and character. A fundamental snare is begun from an outside source, while a character snare is begun from inside. The author provides an answer for leaders to recognize the source of the snare and, in this way; the leader can circumvent moral difficulties in a more effective way. For successful technology integration within the educational realm, ethics and vision are at the heart of garnering political support for increased funding.