Education Technology Expert Speaks with Warsaw Teachers
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David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Since coming to the Warsaw School District five years ago, Superintendent Dr. Craig Hintz had a dream of bringing Dr. Scott McLeod to district educators. Wednesday morning, Hintz’s dream came true when McLeod spoke to Warsaw educators as well as representatives of 29 other school districts. According to his provided biography, McLeod is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading experts on K-12 school technology leadership issues. After 14 years as an educational leadership professor, McLeod currently serves as the director of innovation for Prairie Lakes Area Education Agency in Iowa. He also is the founding director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education, the nation’s only academic center dedicated to the technology needs of school administrators, and was a co-creator of the video series “Did You Know? (Shift Happens).” WCS Technology Integration Coach Susan Armacost said McLeod was brought in for a “Day of Learning” because he’s an expert in 1:1 education. In 1:1 education, every student has their own portable computer device. In late February, WCS was one of only 20 districts in the state to be awarded a $100,000 2014 Digital Learning Grant from the Indiana Department of Education. The grant money will provide for professional learning needs of teachers to integrate 1:1 into their classrooms as well as buy iPad Minis for all of its sixth-graders for the 2014-15 school year. McLeod spoke to the 30 school district representatives for about two hours Wednesday. In introducing McLeod, Hintz said he came here five years ago from Minnesota. While in that state, he went to a small session with McLeod. “There was something about wanting to have that conversation continue. When I went home, I told (my wife) Susan about it and how he really grabbed me,” Hintz stated. Later Hintz attended further sessions with McLeod and they kept in touch. “I had a personal dream to bring Scott to Warsaw for five years. We were finally able to get a match on our calendars,” Hintz concluded. During a break in the morning, McLeod said he hoped the educators would leave his session with an understanding of new ways to think about technology-rich learning in their classrooms. He said his session didn’t spend a lot of time talking about the tools but how educators think about those tools. “This is not an apps workshop,” he said. “They should leave today with a protocol and set of questions to dissect and learn from their own set of lessons and to work with other teachers,” he said. The session was more about changing mindsets than learning tools, he said. Technology rapidly changes and poses a set of challenges for schools, especially with limited budgets. Whatever technology a school has, he said the school needs to focus on using it well. We live in a digital world and schools need to learn to educate in that world, he said.
