and podcasts to more effectively communicate with the public and provide their students with an opportunity to create content that will be seen by a real-world audience. These electronic tools provide a unique window into district operations that can be valuable the next time a school funding measure is on the local ballot. A good question to consider is how a district’s web presence represents the quality of taking place within the system. Especially for voters without children in the system, it’s important to let the public know how their tax dollars are being invested.The district site can also be a valuable resource for the local press and serve as the official source of information to dispel rumors at times of crisis.
The Role of the Chief Technology Officer In today’s world, technology networks, devices, and software applications are critical to the success of a business. Just like FedEx’s strives to quickly deliver packages and Wal-
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Mart’s is driven to offer economically priced goods, both organizations owe much of their success to highly placed technology leaders who understand their company’s business objective and how to apply technology solutions that will advance those goals.
Schools exist for one primary purpose business objective – to successfully educate students. While “turf wars” and silos exist between IT experts and curriculum leaders and litter the organization charts of both large and small districts, the ones that have overcome those
challenges are reaping the benefits.The National School Boards Association’s Technology Leadership Network (TLN) has showcased K-12 innovations for more than 20 years through its district site visit program and at its annual technology and learning conference for school leadership teams,T+L.Two districts, the Madison City Schools (AL) and the Calcasieu Parish Schools in Lake Charles (LA) were both featured as 2009 TLN Site Visits and share a common characteristic that contribute to their success. Both Madison and Calcasieu have recognized that technology decisions touch every aspect of their districts’ business and have placed their top technology person in the superintendent’s cabinet. In both instances, the chief technology staffer is over traditional IT network infrastructure as well as the staff responsible for technology’s use in instruction. Unlike much of corporate America, schools not only have computers to maintain, but projectors, scientific probes, interactive white boards, digital
SouthEast Education Network FALL 2009
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