Leading Digital Equity

One of the most relevant characteristics of leadership, according to leadership expert and author John Maxwell, is the ability to define reality in meaningful ways. Recently, equity issues have taken precedence in career and technology education (CTE) campuses to provide and support students in equitable manners. Educational equality means providing the same amount of resources and support regardless of their learning needs. Educational equity refers to the ability of providing resources and support based on individual needs. This discernment becomes even more relevant when using technology with student population who may or may not have easily available access to the internet. Moreover, teachers realize that equity issues often meet students’ needs more accurately and a variety of sources are use continuously to close the achievement gap. Thus, current reality is equitable access to technology of teachers and students, especially those dependent on improper funding methods. The duty of an educational leader is to develop an equitable strategy to help access technology and resources for teachers and students alike to close the achievement gap. Some of these strategies are discussed the following.

  1. Invest in technology to provide access and training to latest tech tools

Investing in latest technology ensures that teachers have access to modern tools to deliver lessons resembling area of study for which there is a labor market demanding a set of necessary skills.

  1. Invite social media to reach beyond classroom

Allowing social sites such as Twitter, Facebook etc. give your teachers the opportunity to reach to colleagues and stay abreast of professional development beyond the school and students the opportunity to connect in conjoined projects with their peers from various locations.

  1. Offer access to online paid professional learning communities and resources

There are many online teacher-led professional opportunities for teachers to attend and learn about the latest use of technology in the classroom. Teachers are able to attend professional development as well as learn from best practices. This ensures that teachers and students alike have the opportunity to apply best learning principles that help close the achievement gap.

As a leader, you have a transformational and transactional responsibility to meet the needs of your teachers and students. Make no assumptions, but rather ask, observe, and seek to enhance your teacher and student skill level. First seek out how students learn and what teachers need to teach successfully, and then dive into implementation process of new tech innovations. In essence, model effective approaches for your educators to teach and your students to learn.