The Role of Educational Technology in Educational Leadership Programs 165The data presented here indicates a difference in diffusion of innovation of technology in
administrative practice versus teaching practice. It then follows, that it may be worthwhile to
consider the role of an educational technology course or courses in a program of education
administration.
COURSE STANDARDS
Any course in an education administration preparation program must necessarily be
grounded in the relevant standards, which in this case are:
- ELCC—Educational Leadership Constituent Council
- ISLLC—Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium Standards for School
Leaders - NETS*A—National Educational Technology Standards for Administrators
These standards enable policy makers to move from just acknowledging the importance of
an administrator’s role in using technology to defining the specifics of what administrators
need to know and be able to do to discharge their responsibility as leaders in the effective use
of technology in schools (ISTE, 2001). An annotated crosswalk for the
ELCC/ISLLC/NETS*A standards is available on the CONNEXIONS website
http://www.connexions.soe.vt.edu/ under the technology domain.
COURSE FOCUS AREAS
Even now, most people entering programs of education administration began teaching
before the technological revolution got into full swing, so they often come into the program
with a minimal knowledge of even fundamental productivity software such as Microsoft
Office. This lack of knowledge compounds when, for example, basic understanding
associated with spreadsheet software (i.e. Microsoft Excel) must be applied to the relatively
complex tasks of managing a multi-tier budget across multiple worksheets. As technology has
become mission critical, it has become necessary to compartmentalize its relevant areas and
the NETS*A provides a suitable framework for accomplishing this task.
Leadership and Vision
One key area for a course in educational technology leadership is technology leadership
and vision (NETSA, I:A-F)(ISTE, 2001) .In addressing this key area, candidates should
participate in an inclusive district process through which stakeholders formulate a shared
vision that clearly defines expectations for technology (NETSA, I:A-C). Candidates should
participate in the development of a collaborative, technology-rich school improvement plan
that is grounded in research and aligned with the district strategic plan (NETSA, I:A-C). The
candidate should be able to evaluate the return on investment of a particular educational
technology initiative in terms cost savings or mission advancement and understand processes
of advocating for and seeking resources for successful programs (NETSA, I:D,F). In
assessing and/or setting research-based guidelines for campus technology resources
(NETSA, I:D,E), research guidelines for the purchase of hardware and software(NETSA,