Andrea Paniagua-Mejia

ETEC 530

Spring 2018

Leadership Guest Speaker Assignment

Student Speaker: Deena

What is your “take” on what the interviewees were saying? Briefly describe the each
speaker's background and his or her key points.

Deena works for Long Beach Unified School District as an Instructional Assistant in

Computer Resources. She has one specific school that she dedicates her time and works with

students from TK to 3rd grade. By creating meaningful lesson plans and assignments, she helps

improve her student's technology skills. She researches a variety of applications and website that

will assist her students to meet the district’s technology goals, Dance Mat Typing, Abcya, and

Starfall to name a few. She has time within her schedule to accept teachers request to align her

lessons with content introduced in the classroom.

What connections do you see between what the interviewees had to say and readings from
the course? Were there any surprises?

In Garner and Sage, we learned about personal mastery, which means members are

continually reflecting on and revising their vision and their commitment to their work. They

improve themselves and their organizations by being lifelong learners. The way we use and

implement technology in education has changed and will continue to grow drastically over the

years. Deena has demonstrated how she achieves personal mastery, to learn more technology

implementations that are beneficial in the classroom. She uses personal motivation to further her

understanding of new websites and applications to continue assisting her students in developing

their technology skills.

Of all the points made by the interviewees, which ones seem most important, and why?
Please describe at least one "most important" point from each speaker.

The essential point Deena made was that she had time within her schedule to meet and

assist teachers with technology implementation. I initiated my district’s technology program as a

TOSA. I developed technology standards, researched essential applications and websites, as well

as attempted to bridge the connection within the classroom instruction. It is the fourth year since

my district implemented the technology program, and to the day we still do not have a technology

teacher for each school. The technology TOSAs do not have enough time to meet the needs of all

the teachers. Every day they are in a different school, and they only see the students twice a

month, with a lower (TK-2) and upper (3-5) schedule. I think that becomes a significant aspect

when implementing technology in education. Some teachers need the time to be guided to see the

greatness of applying technology in their classroom.

Guest Speaker: Dr. Min Yao

What is your “take” on what the interviewees were saying? Briefly describe the each
speaker's background and his or her key points.

Dr. Min Tao is the chief information officer at California State University, Long Beach.

He currently has 20 years of CEO experience and served in five educational institutions, including

CSULB. It was interesting to hear that he obtained this position by chance, as he happened to be

familiar with the database they were implementing. Currently, he provides strategic direction to

the CSULB campus and delivers efficient and effective IT services. His focused projects have

been implementing digital signature and workflow, one card access, and student virtual computer

lab.

What connections do you see between what the interviewees had to say and readings from
the course? Were there any surprises?
 In “Thinking in Systems,” one of the fundamental concepts I learned that it is essential to

see the system as a whole and understand it before jumping to conclusions. It is evident that Dr.

Min Yao has adopted this skill and implemented it in his system, he has an excellent

understanding of how his system behaves and observes and analysis every aspect to understand

his system as a whole. As a leader, he is driven by the system’s shared goals. All of his projects

consist of assisting the campus in selecting and implementing technology to facilitate student

success, support faculty to teach and research more efficiently, help staff to work more efficiently,

and make the campus friendlier to visitors.

Of all the points made by the interviewees, which ones seem most important, and why?
Please describe at least one "most important" point from each speaker.

Dr. Min Yao emphasized the idea that it is not about implementing the technology. It is

the service that is provided. Technology is something that is all around us and growing rapidly,

but we must focus on the technology goal. The purpose of technology is to facilitate our daily

lives. If we implement technology as “mandatory” then we lose sight of the reason we apply

technology in the first, because then people become aggravated. Instead, if we show those that are

resistant to new technology the benefits, then we will have more people willing to try.

Guest Speaker: Andrew Fitzgerald

What is your “take” on what the interviewees were saying? Briefly describe the each
speaker's background and his or her key points.

I think of the guest speakers thus far, Andrew was someone I could relate to the most. He

is a Microsoft Innovative expert, a Cue Rockstar, and a middle school music teacher. Being very

family oriented, and with two young kids, it is essential for him to find a balance. He is very goal

oriented and a person who enjoys analyzing certain situations and finds ways to improve. When

technology was “new” in the Long Beach School District, he took the initiative to try to develop a
system that will work. He dives right in and plays with technology until he finds its highest

potential.

What connections do you see between what the interviewees had to say and readings from
the course? Were there any surprises?

In “Leading with Soul,” talks about the gifts of leadership, which include:

1. Authorship – putting your own fingerprint/owning your work

2. Love – synonymous to caring
3. Power – allowing others to express themselves and run with their ideas
4. Significance – allows us to find meaning and confidence in what we do for the
organization.

As Andrew talks about his students and his classroom orientation, he implements the four

gifts of leadership. Authorship, as he assigns meaningful lessons to students. By using Flipgrid,

his students record themselves playing an instrument and part of the assignment is to analyze

themselves and look for areas growth and improvement. Power, as he allows his students to be

responsible for their work, grades, and projects. Significance, as every assignment is meaningful

to the students and it is an opportunity for them to grow and develop confidence in playing their

chosen instrument. It is evident that love is implemented in the classroom. He has approximately

50 middle school students in a low-income area finishing projects and orienting themselves to

complete assignments and improve their grades.

Of all the points made by the interviewees, which ones seem most important, and why?
Please describe at least one "most important" point from each speaker.
Andrew spoke of technology affordance, which means understanding the technology

enough that you know what it can do and how it can work for your purpose. I think a lot of the

time teachers are under the impression that technology is an incentive, especially in the

elementary setting. They are not aware of the capabilities that technology brings to the classroom,
and therefore, they have the Chrome cart in the corner simply collecting dust. At least for my

district, I think many teachers still need the guidance to see the capabilities of technology.

Guest Speaker: Dr. Vanitha Chandreskhar

What is your “take” on what the interviewees were saying? Briefly describe the each
speaker's background and his or her key points.

It is incredible what Dr.Vanitha was able to accomplish in her short time in her district.

When she first applied for the position her biggest challenge was building a relationship with the

IT department. Coming from the classroom, it was a completely different world. She had to

establish a common vision and build a relationship to work together and begin implementing

technology in the classrooms. She initiated a program for 74,000 students, 70,000 Chromebooks,

and 11,000 iPad. This data is not including the staff’s devices. It was a big project that had to be

accomplished, and luckily, with the right leadership she, along with her team, were able to take

the district from 0 to over 70,000 devices in as little as two years. Teamwork is essential, and all

the different teams within the system had to work together with teachers, students, curriculum

leaders, educational technology and IT depart towards their common goal.

What connections do you see between what the interviewees had to say and readings from
the course? Were there any surprises?

In “Thinking in Systems,” it talks about a simple system and how it is a set of things that

are interconnected in a way that they produce their pattern of behavior over time. They can either

survive by adaptation, which is what Dr. Vanitha has established, by guiding everyone in her

system towards the goal of preparing the students for the technology growth around them.

Although the chapter continues to elaborate on systems that are pushed too far. When a system is

forced to do something, it causes chaos and confusion and may fall apart. The communication she

has developed eliminates aggravation from the system. A system is more than the sum of its parts.
A system is a connected set of elements that are organized in a way to achieve a common goal.

Dr. Vanitha mentioned, “At the end of the day, it’s all about the students and preparing them for

the 21st century. I have ideas, and you have ideas, let’s sit down and listen to one another and find

the best solutions for the students.” She has established a system that works in harmony.

Of all the points made by the interviewees, which ones seem most important, and why?
Please describe at least one "most important" point from each speaker.

I enjoyed what Dr. Vanitha said regarding leadership in the educational technology world,

“If you are in education and you are using technology, you are already a leader.” She emphasizes

that there is no exact definition of what it looks like or what it is, by guiding and encouraging

others you are building relationships and communication in a system. By listening to the needs

and concerns of each group and offering them empathy and relating their frustrations, you create a

trust within the system, which are all critical details in guiding everyone towards the common

goal in the system.

Guest Speaker: Dr. Jennifer Lamkins

What is your “take” on what the interviewees were saying? Briefly describe the each
speaker's background and his or her key points.

Dr. Jennifer Lamkins started as a K-12 teacher in education and made a significant impact

by implementing technology. She went back to school and got her Doctorate in Educational

Technology. Dr. Lamkins went back to the classroom at Harvard Westlake, a 7th to 12th-grade

private school and faced many challenges with reluctant faculty. She worked there for eight years

until she transferred to a school in Florida and was able to establish the school’s first student

email accounts and 1 to 1 devices, all within three years. After that, Dr. Lamkins went to Seattle

to work to a 5 to 12th-grade private school, Lakeside alma mater of Bill Gates. The challenge she

faced there was no resilience to technology but changing their way of thinking. It was a highly
successful school with an “eh everyone wants to be here,” kind of attitude. She then ended up at

Cal State University, Long Beach working alongside a dysfunctional team. She went in with a

positive attitude and began to analyze the situation. Several people were placed in this specific

technology team, not doing what they were passionate about, and therefore, not working to their

fullest potential. She modified, and she encouraged and moved people around to place them in a

position they were happy and could demonstrate high potential. It made a huge difference in the

environment and success of the team. She initiated weekly check-in meeting instead of two-hour

meetings once a month. This way they discussed What went well? What didn't go well? How do

we fix it? By doing so, they discussed issues as a team and resolved them together.

What connections do you see between what the interviewees had to say and readings from
the course? Were there any surprises?

Dr. Lamkins has demonstrated and experienced all the leadership roles discussed in our

readings. Her passion guides her to rise teams that are not working to their full potential. She

establishes a stable system and teaches those within techniques that must be implemented to have

the systems succeed. She reminds me a lot of Steve in “Leading with Soul,” when he realizes

what he must do to be the leader his company needed. It is incredible what a real leader can do

within a short amount of time.

Of all the points made by the interviewees, which ones seem most important, and why?
Please describe at least one "most important" point from each speaker.

Something that I enjoyed was when Dr. Lamkins said, “Get to know your people. It’s

really about relationships. Everybody is an expert in one thing. Find out what that thing is, respect

it, use it. Don’t be afraid to tell someone: you don’t belong here, and that’s a good thing.”

Although she wasn’t the only one to mention the importance of listening to others ideas, she was

the first to mention that it was okay to tell someone that they didn’t belong. She experienced this
conflict several times and was able to navigate within the system to try to place everyone

correctly. When someone was “misplaced” or is not passionate about what they are doing, the

system is affected. It is vital that everyone is providing their utmost potential so that the system

benefits from what everyone within can accomplish.