I have a research team that’s going to spend the summer interviewing as many of the eSchoolNews technology-savvy superintendents as we can. eSchoolNews has named 10 tech-savvy superintendents for each of the past 7 years, so our total number of interviews could be as high as 70.
We’re trying to learn what makes these superintendents tick: how they think about digital technologies, what makes them different from other superintendents, what they do in terms of internal support and training, etc. We’d love to have your input as to what questions we should ask these folks.
Got a great idea for an interview question we should ask these superintendents? If so, please post it as a comment below. Thanks!
What prevents integration of technology into courses in your district?
What is your definition of technology in education?
How do you see it being used?
Why do you think it’s important?
As district superintendent, what will your administration do to convince classroom teachers that it is ok to fail at some of their technology implementation attempts, and that this failure will not reflect on their performance evaluations? How will you get your teachers to take risks in the use of technology?
What program or programs did you discontinue or scale back as your district’s reliance on technology increased? What was the role of technology-specific funding (state, federal, and/or private) in enabling district leadership to reach its goals? How, if at all, have you addressed differential access to technology for students after-school/outside of the school building? What was the source for your inspiration/vision for using technology in your district? What advice would you give to others not as far along, particularly in terms of actions you would suggest districts *not* take in seeking to emulate your success?
What do you have to sacrifice to make time for training of staff?
What do you know about Free/Open Source Software applications like Moodle, OpenOffice.org and Edubuntu (a GNU/Linux distribution)? Why are you (not) using these in your schools?
What skills and knowledge do you feel that you need to lead in a technology-rich environment?
Do you believe that a superintendent needs to be tech savvy to lead in a 21st century learning environment?
How do your tech savvy skills indirectly benefit the students in your district?
How has increased access to mobile technologies, social media, and digital content both licensed and open source impacted your vision for curriculum design, development, and delivery?