The Blackboard App for iPhone: A Great Tool for Digital Natives

For those of you who still think cell phones have no future in educational settings, you need to pay very close attention. Schools and institutions of higher learning across the country use a school data management and course delivery system called Blackboard. In case you're not familiar with Blackboard, this robust system allows teachers to post assignments, grades, documents, discussion boards and anything else associated with a course and it allows students to check grades, assignments, download documents, participate in discussions, upload assignments and more. It's expensive but Blackboard is a powerful tool.

Being savvy about today's rapidly-changing digital landscape that is education, Blackboard has created an app for iPhone (if you don't what an iPhone app is, click here) to allow students to use Blackboard from their iPhones. Check out this video for more info on the app.



This is going to be a runaway hit with high school and college students (and probably with more middle school kids than we want to admit actually have iPhones). Why is this going to be a hit? Watch and listen:



This may very well be one of the next big things in uses for cell phones in an educational setting. If you don't believe me, just wait.

Getting the Job Description Right When Creating a Position

This is the time of year when educational leaders look ahead to the next school year to determine whose contracts need to be renewed or non-renewed, which personnel need to be reassigned and which positions need to be cut altogether. Often there are needs that need to be met in a school and, for whatever reason, there is no faculty or staff person currently in place to meet those needs. In such a situation, a position may need to be created so someone can be hired to meet those needs.

When creating a position, several steps need to be taken to help ensure the success of the person selected to fill the position. First, a position should be created only if there is a need that needs to be met and if that need cannot be met efficiently by another member of the team. The void created by the lack of the position should be well-documented.

Second, a thorough and detailed job description must be created and the job description must outline several things. The job description should include the job title and should outline a general explanation of the position, basic job functions as well as detailed job functions; it also should delineate clearly where in the chain of command the new position falls. The basic and detailed job functions should match up with the documented, un-met needs of the school or organization.

Perhaps the most important part of creating a new position and a quality job description for that position is this: Create a job description based on needs that must be met and not based on the skill set of a person that needs a job or needs to be reassigned. In other words, a school or organization may very well get itself into trouble by creating a job description to match a person rather than creating a job description for a position that will make the organization better and more efficient. If you're asking the question Can we create a position and job description to match his or her skill set? then you may be setting yourself and the organization up for disappointment.

Keeping Your Handbook and Policies Current and Relevant

This is the time of year when we, the leaders on our campuses, start looking ahead to the next school year. As educational leaders we're thinking about budgets, contracts, hiring, enrollment and more. We also should be looking ahead to next year with regard to the school handbook and the policies contained within. Ideally, over the course of any given school year, the school leadership constantly makes notes in the handbook as issues arise which are not directly addressed in the handbook. Such issues arise more frequently than ever before as the technology used by our students changes monthly and weekly.

Here are a few things you might want to consider when reviewing your handbook for possible changes, additions or clarification for the 2009-10 school year:

• sexting and emailing pornographic images - What happens when your students are involved? when your students send or receive or view? when your student is in the photo(s)?
• cyberbullying - What will your response be to students who are cyberbullied? to those who are cyberbullying? How will you differentiate between cyberbullying and "just joking?"
• cheating with cell phones and other devices - Do you know how kids use cell phones and other devices to cheat on exams and projects? Will cheating with an electronic device be treated the same as a pen and paper cheat sheet?
• searching cell phones and other devices - Do you know when it is appropriate to search a student's cell phone or device? Is it clearly explained in writing?
• cell phones vs. iTouch and other 3G devices that are not phones - If cell phones are banned, what do you do with internet-ready devices that aren't phones?
• Facebook, MySpace, social networking sites, chats and blogs - What do you do with students speaking out against the school? against faculty and administration? What do you with images of your students on social networking sites in which your students are drinking, doing drugs or are engaged in other prohibited behaviors? Does it make a difference if the students are somehow connected to your school in the images (uniforms, t-shirts, etc.)? What if images of faculty or staff appear on social networking sites portraying them in the same situations described above?
• YouTube - What happens when your students shoot video in your school or classrooms and post to sites such as YouTube? Does it make a difference if the video is objectionable or not? What if your student appears in an objectionable video online?
• recording digital images at school - If digital cameras (still and/or video) are prohibited at school, what about cell phones and other devices with cameras? How will you handle a parent whose child records a teacher's poor performance without anyone's knowledge then posts the video or turns it over to the school? Who's in more trouble - student or teacher?

You may think your handbook covers everything teens are up to these days. If it does, send me a copy so I can study it and learn from it. As you look ahead to next year and consider your handbook or policies, I urge you to think outside the box and to try to anticipate issues likely to arise next year that are not addressed in writing currently. Technology, the law, schools and limitations of things like privacy and expression are still basically uncharted waters. Educational leaders in the 21st century have no excuse for being caught off-guard by the things our students are doing with today's (and tomorrow's) technology. If your handbook still uses language like CD player or Walkman, you probably need to update.

The Leader as a Reader: Professional Growth vs Rest and Relaxation

I'm the world's biggest advocate for leaders being readers, especially educational leaders. I recommend, as do so many others who know more than I, all educational leaders read voraciously. Educational leaders should read for self improvement. Educational leaders also should read to model reading for those around them.

As this school year began, I saw myself reading as much professional growth material as anything. I had a huge list of authors to read, authors like Jim Collins, Annette Breaux, Todd Whitaker, Howard Gardner, Ken Robinson and more. As the year has progressed, I have read quite a few professional growth books to help me and to help my school. However, as the year has progressed I have noticed something interesting about my reading habits. In the last few months, as the wear and tear of the year has taken its toll on me, I find myself seeking escape on the streets of Jerusalem's Lot, wandering the dangerous streets of Afghanistan, running from the mob in Memphis, rooting for Edward and Bella to finally get hitched, and the list goes on. While books have always been a way for me to stretch my mind and grow intellectually, I find myself turning to books more and more as a means of managing stress.

When the board, the parents, the budgets, the grades, the reports and the detentions get to be too much, grab a book, settle into that old leather chair your significant other wants to throw out, and get lost.