COLLABORATIVE LEADERSHIP

                                                                               Collaborative Leadership and Educational Technology

                                                                        Collaborative Learning and Technology

       Collaborative leaders are interactive learners and problem solvers. They facilitate the development of teams of learners who are able and willing to work through problems as a group and build learning communities. Today, technology is helping to facilitate this learning process in a collaborative way across disciplines and curriculum. Collaborative learning concepts and principles provide the practical applications for much of this new technology both inside and outside of the classroom environment. Whether you are an educational administrator or a classroom teacher you can benefit in significant ways from the new applications of collaborative learning technology. The following example is how one college empowered administrators and teachers by using this technology everyday to develop more dynamic and effective collaborative leaders and learners in education.

       In previous years New College had hired the leadership of their school to focus primarily on improving the financial position of the institution through creative marketing strategies and tough budget management. However, over the years with the preoccupation on finances, the Board of Regents has become increasingly concerned about the direction of the curriculum in the school and the kind of graduates they were sending into the workforce. So, they hired a new President with a history of leadership and knowledge regarding collaborative learning and technology to initiate curriculum change for greater quality education across disciplines.

       The New President began by introducing the concept of building a learning community in which teachers and students were more easily able to share information and learn from each other across disciplines. He worked closely with a team of teachers and curriculum developers to create a new core curriculum that included courses in collaborative learning, critical thinking across disciplines, group communication and collaborative leadership to encourage greater interaction and connected thinking across departments and among both the faculty and students. With his staff and team of administrators he also worked to initiate the concept of building a learning organization in which there was greater collaboration among department heads, supervisors, staff and faculty regarding program and employee development, research and learning.

      In the past the new developments in technology were primarily used for building their distance learning program to bring in more revenue to the school. However, the New President now encouraged the innovations in technology, such as e-mail, voice-mail, video conferencing and the Web, to be used in every way to assist the faculty to collaborate in their research and to help them to share information with the students and other faculty across curriculum. This open communication policy enabled the teachers to initiate learning and research projects that were more connected and relevant in a practical way to the collaboration and teamwork that is necessary in the workplace. And, in conjunction with the new core curriculum students were encouraged and taught to be collaborative leaders, learners and problem solvers. In addition, with his administrators, he encouraged department heads and supervisors to use the technology in a collaborative way to communicate more clearly and receive appropriate feedback as necessary. Also, Power Point equipment was installed in every classroom not only for the use of the teachers but to enable the students to develop their own presentations and information to share with the teachers and other students on a regular basis.

       As a result of The President’s collaborative policy and program initiatives, New College began to produce research projects that were more practical and beneficial to society and the environment through team efforts that were more connected across disciplines. Also, through the new core curriculum the students of New College became better critical thinkers, problem solvers and leaders being able to interact with others and listen for understanding instead of just competing with their fellow students. And, the administrators, faculty and staff of New College began to work more successfully as teams to generate practical solutions for the long term instead of out-dated temporary or short term political solutions. Overall, New College succeeded to accomplish what previous presidents and administrators failed to do with their one dimensional marketing strategies. They built a new collaborative curriculum and learning community for the faculty and students as well as a learning organization for the administration that regenerated a sense of quality and teamwork that was lost over the previous years.

       Most importantly, the students of New College graduated with a greater sense of contribution and connection to society and the environment and developed the collaborative leadership and problem solving skills necessary to create a better world. Gradually, student enrollments at New College continued to increase along with their reputation both academically and administratively. And, soon other schools began to follow the collaborative model established by New College which contributed in a significant way to educational reform throughout the country.

 Copyright 2008, Global Leadership Resources: For teaching or classroom use only.

Note: The above example is based on the concepts and principles found in the book, Collaborative Leadership and Global Transformation by Timothy Stagich, Ph.D.

 
                                                                                          Discussion Questions

1. What is the relationship between Collaborative Learning and Technology? And, how does the new Technology help students learn?
2. What was the new President’s “Open Communication Policy” and how did it help change learning and curriculum in a collaborative way at New College?
3. Discuss the benefits of using Collaborative Technology in the areas of research, teaching and learning. How did it improve each of these areas?
4. How do Collaborative Learning and Technology help to create problem solvers?
5. Give some examples and discuss how Collaborative Learning and Leadership can enrich the use of Technology in Education.
6. How can Collaborative Learning and Technology work together to motivate students, teachers and administrators?
7. How does the new Technology help to improve collaborative teamwork in the learning environment and in educational administration?