I have been digging into the uses of technology in leadership for the past eight weeks in a course at Creighton University. A quick look at technology gives a glimpse at how fast it can change. Twenty years ago my husband and I got our first cell phone - well actually it was a gigantic bag phone that plugged into the cigarette lighter in our car. We had to pull out the antenna to actually get a signal. I was amazed that I could talk to someone on a phone in my car. I now have a cell phone I don't share with him that fits in my pocket and allows me to get on the internet, call people, video conference, keep track of my appointments, and write my grocery list. I couldn't have imagined those changes when I spoke for the first time on that big bag phone.
The variety of Web 2.0 tools is amazing. The shift in a classroom to technology-based teaching an learning has led to adaptive learning tools and the ability to embed the tools within learning management systems so grades can be calculated and assignments made directly in the learning management system has helped teachers to organize their online tools. We can use videos from the internet to teach such as this crude video my students and I made to allow them to review dissections (warning: it is a dissection of a fetal pig). I found a great resource for educators called Emerging Ed Tech that has provided a lot of ideas regarding what type of technologies exist for educators.
With all of these advances in technology comes great responsibility in leadership. Through this course we looked at the ethical and unethical uses of technology. Technology can be used to help educate and simplify processes, but it can also be used in questionable manners. I currently have a virus on my computer that is trying to get me to call a toll free number to get instructions for removal - almost like holding my computer hostage to a million pop-ups until I will pay their price for removal. Obviously, not an ethical use of technology by the virus provider. What about hactivism (a new word in my vocabulary from this class)? The campus where I teach is on the border of Ferguson, MO which made national news this week for the social unrest that has occurred due to the killing of a young man by a police officer. To add to the social unrest on the streets, Anonymous added a YouTube video threatening, or maybe I should say promising to take down web-based assets of the police department and dumping their databases and emails onto the internet if protestors are attacked, etc. It is up to ethical leaders that are guided by mission and values to lead through this technology boom.
Technology changes very quickly and can very easily mislead people to poor uses when they become enamored by technology's bells and whistles. The focal point of mission and values will help leaders to discern the appropriate technologies to use and the appropriate use of those technologies. I will continue to dig into technologies, but will be much more mindful of mission of the organization and my personal values to guide my choices to ask others to follow my technological lead.
