District Administration - February 2011 - (Page 14)

Br iefings Technology SociAl networking hAS become A quick and efficient way for k12 administrators to gain professional development. lyn hilt, principal of brecknock elementary School in the eastern lancaster county (Pa.) School District recently had to create a new acceptable use policy for elementary student computer use. She posted on twitter that she was looking for ideas, and within minutes she had dozens of examples from other districts’ administrators, including a video that had interviews with students and an administrator discussing the rights and responsibilities of students. “in an hour, i was done,” she says. Principal eric Sheninger of new milford (n.J.) high School says that his blog, “A Principal’s reflections,” gives his stakeholders “a glimpse into what i do as an administrator and the achievements of my students and staff. As a leader, it gives me a platform to reflect on my successes, and it allows me to critically analyze how i do things as a principal.” the annual edublog Awards, a community-based program in its seventh year, solicits nominations from followers of the blogs and rates the best social media sites worldwide. “A Principal’s reflections” won first runner-up as best school administrator blog in 2010. last year Sheninger blogged about how a class in his high school was learning about the holocaust by communicating with a guide in nahariya, israel, using Skype. the UJA Federation of northern new Jersey learned about this program through the blog and is now partnering with the school so that students and administrators from new milford and nahariya can travel to and visit with each another. “my hope is that we can learn successful [leadership] strategies” from each other, Professional Development 2.0 New Consortium Hopes to Capitalize on the Cloud SchoolS acroSS the nation have begun the transition toward cloud computing, and administrators knowledge and ease of use with cloud services ranges from early beginners to the very advanced. a new nonprofit organization, educloud, plans to level the playing field by developing a set of best practices for the development of K12 content, tools and assessments hosted in the cloud. educloud, a project launched in January 2010 under the direction of the nonprofit organization Visions of education, is a membership-based organization attracting constituents from private technology companies, schools, administrators and national education organizations to discuss requirements for students engaged in cloud computing. “The challenge we have here is that there’s a lot of buzz around the cloud— it’s a $300 billion marketplace,” says Bruce Wilcox, educloud’s founding chair and vice president of Blended learning at classlink. “The implications, however, for the K12 solutions are dramatically different.” These implications include concerns over the safety of student data and online he says. “they have very large class sizes. how do they manage that?” Although social media networking is quick and valuable, it won’t replace face-to-face workshops, says george couros, an Alberta, canada principal and creator of “the Principal of change,” which won second learning environments, new demands for vendors, updating content and tools, and—because one isn’t tethered to a single machine in the cloud—how to handle the possibility of a “bring your own device to school” model for students. “We’re hoping to clean up what could be a messy thing,” says Wilcox. “People want a convening environment to work these things out.” according to Berj akian, an educloud founder and the ceo of classlink, the goal is that by including members from outside the vendor community, such as educators and policymakers, the consortium will be able to foster a deeper discussion on cloud computing. otto Berkes, general manager of the office of the chief software architect at Microsoft and supporter of the consortium, believes educloud can greatly expand access to learning systems. “Broadening access to education to learners everywhere through cloudbased services and technology will be essential to fully realize the promise of cloud computing.” For more information on educloud, visit educloudconsortium.org.—M.H. runner-up for best school administrator blog in 2010. to read more blogs that either won edublog awards or were nominated, visit: darcymoore.net, www.esheninger .blogspot.com, www.georgecouros.ca/ blog, www.connectedprincipals.com, or lynhilt .com.—Angela Pascopella District Administration 14 February 2011 http://www.educloudconsortium.org http://www.darcymoore.net http://esheninger.blogspot.com http://esheninger.blogspot.com http://www.georgecouros.ca/blog http://www.georgecouros.ca/blog http://www.connectedprincipals.com http://www.lynhilt.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - February 2011

District Administration - February 2011
Contents
Going Out of Print
From the Editor
News Update
Technology Update
Safety & Security
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Successful Strategies for English Language Learners
Mobile Goes Mainstream
Virtually Possible
Problem/Solution
New Products
Product Focus
Superintendent’s Insights
Crisis Response
Student Counsel

District Administration - February 2011