Introduction
Systems Designer: Leaders build teams and systems to implement, sustain and continually improve the use of technology to support learning.
Educators now need more developed skills and theories to support 21st-century digital teaching, which means they will constantly absorb new information and resources to fulfill the various learning needs. In other words, teaching is no longer lecturing and delivering knowledge according to pedagogical requirements. From the teaching systems’ points of view, a qualified education leader must be able to establish robust infrastructure and systems needed to implement the strategic plan (ISTE 4a), ensure the resources for teaching are sufficient and scalable for future learning demands (ISTE 4b), guarantee privacy and safety in the learning environment (ISTE 4c) and improve learning policies (ISTE 4d). As educators could see in ISTE standard four, the field for educators to discover and enhance is extending in different ways to satisfy diverse learners and teachers.
To achieve ISTE standard 4 in B.C., educators must ensure the strategies and resources are also under the guidance of B.C. Digital Framework progress. If educators need to lead a team to establish an effective system or strategy, they should articulate and stimulate the tools and technology in teaching and learning. Furthermore, an efficient model could support educators’ learning and developing activities as well. When designing systems and infrastructure for educators, I recommend the SECTIONS model from Tony Bytes. He explained the model details in the book: “The main purpose of this chapter is to provide a framework for making effective decisions about the choice and use of media for teaching and learning. The framework used is the SECTIONS model, which stands for: Students, ease of use, costs, teaching functions, interaction, Organizational issues, Networking, Security and privacy” (Bates, 2019, p. 287). This typical model demonstrates the current needs of both students and faculty within the school district. As the demand for technology in the learning environment is increasing fast, educators must reference or even create their own model to fit the rising needs of diverse digital learning strategies.
On the other hand, ISTE standard 4 also emphasizes the importance of working collaboratively between different departments in the school. Teachers and administrations need to establish an efficient and effective network that connects every individual within the learning environment. Meanwhile, educators must clarify their audience’s learning needs and learning outcomes to evaluate and develop their teaching strategies. Ultimately, all these elements serve one goal, which is to implement and improve learning experiences sustainably.
As qualified digital citizens, we should ensure privacy and safety in using technology and tools in the online environment; However, one of the educator leaders’ jobs is to filter online resources and identify suitable ones for the teachers and students. During the process of locating resources, educator leaders combine various needs from different targets to secure diverse learning strategies within the system. Bates also emphasizes that “there is a whole range of laws and regulations that aim to protect privacy; these cover not only students but also staff; privacy policy needs to be consistent across the institution and be compliant with such laws and regulation” (Bates, 2019, p. 334)
References
A.W. (Tony) Bates. (2019). Teaching in a Digital Age: Guidelines for designing teaching and learning. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/
Figure 1, Retrieved from https://medium.com/@adamchasen/teacher-designer-744be7e20cfa
ISTE. (2020). ISTE Standards for Education Leaders. Retrieved June 30, 2021, from https://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards-for-education-leaders