The challenges of leadership in a connected education environment

Abstract Deans and directors of education in the United States are being asked to position their schools, colleges and departments of education (SCDE) for teaching and learning in the twenty-first century. A key question related to this effort is ‘How is the unit going to utilize current and emerging technologies as an integral part of their planning for instructional and managerial problems? ’ If deans and directors are to answer this question in an innovative way, at least two things must happen. First, they must understand their role as institutional technology leaders. Second, they must engage faculty, staff, and students in the careful exploration of three critical questions: 1. How does the SCDE create and maintain a technology infrastructure to support innovative instruction and program delivery? 2. How can the SCDE prepare faculty, staff, and students to teach and learn in a connected learning environment? And, 3. How best can the SCDE deliver programs in this new environment? This article describes why deans and directors must be leaders if technology is to be a part of the renewal process, discusses the issues related to each of the three questions, and provides a series of questions for deans and directors to stimulate discussion and planning efforts