Innovation in higher education: leadership and the role of technology

Thoughts inspired by Dr. Freeman Hrabowski's excellent and engaging keynote presentation about leadership and how the role of technology is changing:

When a student starts their educational journey, their use of technology is really about checking the syllabus and keeping up. It's very tactical and pragmatic. As their educational career progresses (and as the curriculum takes more advantage of the technology) it becomes an environment of its own; where you are thinking and engaging and working through issues together.

In the hands of the right person, technology moves beyond being a tool; it becomes a medium and a matrix. By slipping into the background and becoming the means (instead of the end) it becomes far more important and integral to the process. Technology becomes so useful and intrinsic that the "nuts and bolts" of it become invisible.

It goes without saying that concept of academic technology is changing and evolving. Not just the technology itself, but the information that it makes more available (and consumable, and contextual) are the means by which we change the fabric of our society. The human connectivity (and the connections to answers that technology provides) erase the barriers of time and space.

As we are engaged in changing our society (which is happening whether we are doing it mindfully or not), it is critical that we consider our society as a whole. If we do not address the inequities in our society, we not only throw away all of the benefits we have the potential to gain.  We also put ourselves at a severe disadvantage with respect to anyone that we compete with. How do we teach and inspire children of all demographics and backgrounds to want to be smart?

The conversation needs to change to focus on our leadership and the way that we go about changing the culture of technology in our world. We often make decisions based on anecdotal information. We have not gotten good at data-driven decision making. If we have access to all of the information, all of the time, why aren't we getting better about using it?

The role of technology in our institutions and our society, and technology leaders, needs to go through the same metamorphosis that the use of technology has. Become so involved in what you are influencing and shaping, that you cease to be an end... become a means to an end. Through involvement, and focus on the impact of what you are influencing, you become greater than yourself and the catalyst for amazing things. Consider the whole impact, and the whole benefit, of anything you are working on.

Dr. Hrabowski said, "Watch your thoughts, they become your words. Watch your words, they become your actions. Watch your actions, they become your habits. Watch your habits, they become your character." Your character becomes your dreams and your inspiration. As technology leaders, we need to be mindful of what we are doing, and what we are influencing. The scope of our impact is only narrowed by the scope of technology itself, and how well we can engage with and represent our society.