Of recent I have come to appreciate the iPhone camera as much as my first Canon 35 mm SLR camera.  That Canon was a precious possession because of the investment of some of my first year teacher’s salary in a tool I had coveted throughout college. I still have trays of slides secreted in the attic from my early teaching days – a sampler of “herptiles” from the Everglades, middle schoolers scrambling up Seneca Rocks, scenes from canoeing the Rapidan River, and hawk migration along the Blue Ridge. My preferred camera tool changed dramatically a year ago, but my viewfinder still aims towards the immature black rat snake near Humpback Rocks, the tiger swallowtail perched on thistle, and the learners at work and play in the schools I visit as superintendent.

When I contrast the two image-capturing tools that define the range of cameras in my life, I think about the ease with which I now can post an image in the virtual world; no wait time to share either video or still photos with family, friends or colleagues. There’s no sense of anticipating the return of snail-mail envelopes laden with photos, either (Yes, millennials -we used to send film away to get it developed.) Instead, I experience the instant gratification of photo-shopping right on the iPhone and sharing images almost real-time. The world changes around me. The tools change in my hands. My preferred camera today is a phone, not my Canon SLR. But, interestingly, the images of classrooms today in many ways mirror those of the past.

I’m convinced that we administrative leaders have an obligation to initiate new learning, become skillful in the use of new tools that accelerate and advance our learning work, and share with others what we are learning. It has not been that long ago since I wandered with some fear into the social media world, a parallel universe to the natural environment that I love.  I’ve come to realize that I don’t need to choose between these two worlds since the mobile device in my pocket untethers me from the computer on my desk or the laptop I used to lug around. My phone lets me take photos, make notes, email, take and make phone calls, check the weather, obtain driving directions, monitor school-level data, listen to recorded books, record classroom learning walks, text- message, micro-blog, and make reservations. I can, within reason, access and even produce information anywhere, at any time.  Our young people have figured all this out, but we adults in some cases are choosing to be left behind. Mobile devices may be the most powerful learning tool that we educators have the potential to develop and use to sustain engagement, move students to high levels of Bloom’s, keep kids connected with learning when they are away from school, and communicate with them in multiple ways. Currently, such devices are the least used in our teaching and learning tool belt.

This year, we are taking a page from @colonelb, superintendent of Godfrey-Lee Public Schools in Michigan. We are going one step further into the 21^st century by opening our local network to students with personal devices just as Godfrey-Lee has done. We will be challenged. Our kids and adults may make some mistakes. We will need to invest more time in educating our educators, parents and community about the why, what, and how of opening up access. Some of our educators will want to continue a position of technology avoidance, minimizing the uncertainty of problems that might emerge as we bring more technology on line for learning. However, I am convinced if we don’t learn to lead and work from a position of amplified uncertainty (Wortham), the hyper-changes of the second decade of the 21^st century will outpace our capability to educate our young people with the skills they need for community life, the workforce, or college.

We educators need to develop integrated expertise in content, pedagogy, and technology applications. The intersection of these knowledge domains, TPCK, illustrates the difference between a 20^th century-style teacher who doesn’t use web 2.0 and other tech tools and a 21^st century, tech-competent teacher who does. We need to look for those differences when we visit classrooms. The ISTE mobile app is available at any time as a reference for what we should expect administrators, teachers and students to know, understand and do to use technology in powerful ways as learning tools. All administrative leaders are issued iPhones in the district where I work. In August, they’ll all load the ISTE app during a back-to-school modified version of an “ed-camp” and work with teacher leaders and colleagues to deepen understanding about technology accelerators of learning and communication.

Becoming an educator with the contemporary knowledge and skills to influence and teach others is as essential an expectation of administrative leaders as it is for teachers. Our kids don’t wait around on someone to tell them to learn a new technology and neither should we. It’s why I push myself to use tools that are alien in my hands today. With time, these tools become more comfortable and accessible to me just as English becomes natural to our English language learners.  In taking on the use of technology for learning purposes, I allow myself the privilege of expecting the same from educators with whom I work, including baby-boomers of my generation

We mostly all began our careers as teachers. As administrative leaders we should “keep our feet in the trenches” and demonstrate that we are first lifelong learners, second teachers, and third administrators.  After all, why would we expect more from teacher-colleagues and young learners than from ourselves?



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