How Your
Nominee Has Shown Leadership Successfully Implementing Technology into
Instruction?
It is with great pleasure I nominate Danielle Herro,
PhD, for the 2010 CRSTE Leadership and Vision award. I have had the pleasure of
knowing Dani as a colleague for fourteen years through our various roles in the
Oconomowoc Area School District. I can
attest, with confidence, you will find no candidate more deserving of this
award. During Dani’s early years of
employment with the Oconomowoc Area School District, she served as a technology
resource teacher. Her ability to seek
and evaluate new technologies and their applications to the classroom made her
an informal leader among the K-12 technology staff. Even at the onset of the “technology
explosion” in our district, Dani had an uncanny ability to find applications
that were a good match for our students and staff. Her intelligence, wit, ability to break
complicated applications down into manageable pieces, team spirit and common
sense approach in implementing and training staff in the use of technology from
the very beginning has created a sense of comfort for even the most reluctant
of digital immigrants.
As I moved into the role of Director of Instruction a
few years ago, I noted a lack of communication and connectedness between our
Technical Support team and our Instructional Technology team. I began meeting with members from each team
on a bi-monthly basis in an effort to align our work for improved instructional
opportunities for students. The meetings
were unproductive and frustrating as the two groups seemed to speak different
languages. Through staffing
re-allocations Dani was named as the K-12 Instructional Technology coordinator
and the technology cabinet meetings continued with Dani as a new member of the
team. Dani’s presence at the meetings
moved the team from arguing and frustration to true collaboration. Our instructional technology offerings,
infrastracture and hardware acquisitions have improved tenfold due to Dani’s
insight, knowledge and communication skills.
She has the rare ability to speak the “language” of technology as well
as she speaks the “language” of instruction.
Dani’s balance of leadership and teamwork in the meetings served as the
bridge between the two groups who were previously at odds. The shared respect and common vision Dani
facilitated among the team members has allowed us to move ahead in
technological initiatives at a rapid pace setting us apart from the school
districts in our area in a uniquely positive manner.
Dani’s knowledge of digital literacy and its
implications for schools is vast. Her
ability to take that knowledge and create a shared mission and vision with OASD
staff in a manner people find realistic and non-threatening has been key to the
success our district has been afforded in the area of technology instruction
and digital literacy. The results of
Dani’s vision, leadership, curriculum development and research have propelled
our district to the forefront of our region in the work we are doing with
children in preparing them to participate in a digitally literate, global
society. Dani’s work has been recognized
by administrators in other districts, and she has been sought to serve as a
consultant to assist other districts in their desire to move forward. Her work and strong writing ability have also
been recognized as her grant submissions have won funds for our district to
purchase additional hardware and provide professional development. To date, she has garnered approximately
$30,000.00 in grant funds. Dani’s
research and dissertation have caught the interest of leading researchers in
the field of digital literacy and she has published and presented her research,
writing, and curriculum in respected journals and at conferences across our
region, state and country.
What sets Dani apart from other professionals in her
field is her ability to create curriculum and design classes, for both adults
and children, in a way that moves technology forward in a content-rich
environment. Her work with both staff
and students literally transforms their ability to teach and learn taking
everyone to a higher level of operation.
Dani began her work as the K-12 Instructional Technology Coordinator
with our district Technology Team focusing on the hardware and software
packages available for our staff and students.
While those areas are important, in just two short years Dani has
educated us all and enabled us to see the real focus of instructional
technology must be on developing content and curriculum that challenges our
students to use technology in a way to best accomplish the task, not just use
the technology for the sake of using a new piece of equipment or
application. When Dani began talking
about Web 2.0 technology three years ago, many of us did not have any idea to
what she was referring. But, Dani’s
reputation throughout her years of employment as being intelligent, innovative,
reasonable, and of high-quality lead all of us to take a “leap of faith” to
follow Dani’s leadership. Her ability to
craft graduate level courses and professional development sessions for the
adults in our district has been outstanding and post-course participant surveys
consistently indicate Dani’s course content, delivery and pedagogy are among
the best they’ve ever experienced. The
curriculum Dani has created for our students is well grounded in essential
outcomes and state standards with Web 2.0 technologies interwoven
throughout. Her work has garnered the
attention of researchers who are impressed with her ability to take extremely
complex technological applications/concepts and extrapolate their connectedness
to the K-12 learning environment.
Beyond Dani's systemic approach to the development of
digital literacy curriculum in our district, she has directly impacted the
lives of approximately 2,000 students in a period of 2-3 years. Dani developed units of instruction for
students in grades 4-12 based on a design cycle, grounded in 21st century
skills, and infused with technology.
After creating the units, Dani utilized a "train-the -trainer"
model to work with technology staff and classroom teachers on a one-to-one
basis to build staff capacity and provide instruction for students. As Dani completed each unit with staff and
students, she released the responsibility for the instruction to the staff
members who were able to provide the technology instruction without Dani's
direct support for multiple sections of students. Dani's work with staff and students have made
it possible for our 4th -12th grade students to engage in the following types
of learning experiences: podcasting, social bookmarking, web design, digital
storytelling/vodcasting, social networking, online learning through a web
portal, and units of study utilizing a SMARTboard.
Dani's current projects for implementation in the
next two school years include a new course for high school students in game
design and creating a virtual high school for the students in the Oconomowoc
Area School District. I am proud to
call Dani my colleague, and I greatly admire her many accomplishments. Her work on behalf of the staff and students
in the OASD has been exemplary. The
concepts to which our staff and students have been exposed through Dani’s work
have increased our district's capacity to provide an outstanding learning
environment in the area of digital literacy which is integral to the success of
all children as we prepare them to compete in a global economy. I urge to you give her credentials the
highest consideration as you select the 2010 CRSTE Leadership and Vision award
winner.
Web Resources
Displaying Nominee's Work:
Dani's
Article Published in Journal of Computing in Teacher Education
Dani's
SITE Conference Paper
Dani's
ING Grant Award
Dani's Presentation
Information for Games and Learning Society
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