TLIS Domain three

Independent School Governance and Leadership

As educators, we wield the power to cultivate understanding, acceptance, and empathy among our students. With each disruptive innovation, this power undergoes subtle refinement.

Beautiful quotes from brilliant minds have inspired me from the early days of my professional career. Motivation as lines from well known storytellers, messages from world leaders, ideas from scientists – ending up on posters on our classroom walls and as sign offs in our email signatures.

A father and his son are in a car accident. The father dies at the scene, and the son, badly injured, is rushed to the hospital. In the operating room, the surgeon looks at the boy and says, “I can’t operate on this boy. He is my son."

The rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has brought forth new opportunities and considerations for K-12 education. As technology leaders in schools, it is crucial to understand the potential impact of generative AI on teaching, learning, assessment, and access to education.

Technology directors in K-12 independent schools hold a crucial role in shaping the learning experiences of our students. Beyond managing devices and networks, your responsibility extends to fostering agency, purpose, and innovation among the young minds we serve.

As we thought leaders implement new tools into our school communities, it's critical that we not let the 'tail wag the dog'.

I was recently asked to share my thoughts on developing a technology vision for an independent school. I have learned a lot (and continue to learn) from this process over the years and I think it essentially comes down to five things:

Almost 30 years ago when I started in Educational Technology, the job description for being a school tech leader was vague. Personally, my biggest qualification was that I knew more about computers/technology than anyone else at the school.

Have you ever looked at your academic programming and wondered how to make it relevant to real-world problems? Enter: computer science. And, the best part is that you don’t need a lab dedicated to computer science to teach these principles (though, it helps!).

Independent schools are sizing up their technology departments to meet new demands and expectations for technology. This presents a puzzle for many school leaders who are seeing that it is time to make long overdue investments in technology and are working on a fixed budget.