5630 spence -john lobo

ED 5630 Speaker July 13. Gary Spence
Gary Spence-Director of Technology, Lethbridge Public Schools
Gary is the second speaker from Wolf Creek School division. The first speaker was the Superintendent of schools. Gary is part of this leadership team as the IT director, and assistant superintendent. Gary spoke to the specifics of IT within Wolf Creek, but it was contextualized with the division vision and what Larry Jacobs had discussed prior.
· Salience (From your perspective, why is IT in education important?)
Technology is here to stay. We have to view technology as an essential component that is for learning. It is not acceptable to be illiterate in respects to language, so being technology illiterate is not acceptable considering that technology is pervasive in our daily life.· Outcomes (What are the specific IT in education outcomes sought through your organization?)
Technology is a vital component of the division as identified in the division vision, and in the main graphic. Technology is pervasive through all the learning outcomes of the division. Gary identified the relationship between education people and technical people, which allowed for the dialogue and discussion to focus the best decisions for student learning.· Processes (What processes are used to achieve these outcomes?)
There were numerous projects that Gary had identified. All the proposals had to have the WHY is this important to student learning. The successful grants enabled the division to move into many areas such as VOIP, , 1:1 laptop computers, and Software as a service. All of these proposal were aligned to the division vision. He identified that the division has a 5 year technology vision and plans from this vision.· Characteristics (What are some of the characteristics of IT Leaders that make them effective in achieving their goals
Gary identified numerous characteristics of the IT leader. We have talked about a lot of these characteristics in other presenters. He identified being committed to people like students and staff. Most importantly he said being committed to Excellence. Probably the most important characteristic he identified was that IT leaders should be HUMBLE.
Gary had often quoted one of his staff members who said “we can do anything, but we can’t do everything. ” This statement is very important for all involved in the field (teachers and techs) as it relates to IT. If you have a solid division vision, with real buy in from division staff, then you are not jumping on every band wagon that comes down the road. The danger, in the day to day of IT , is that without the vision, bandwagons or the latest or greatest that some heard at a conference , can become a direction.