Abstract
A presidential administration that seeks to improve education and frequent budget cuts in education has awakened a renewed urgency to understand best practices for school reform. A substantial amount of government funding has been allocated for educational initiatives for innovation through technology integration. This emphasis has encouraged efforts to implement systems of accountability in education where the practices of educators are seen as the foremost key to change.
While the effective implementation of technology in classrooms is still in its infancy, school librarians often serve as catalysts for technology integration. However, there is limited research to support this leadership role. Moreover, there is a need for research documenting the enablers and barriers that affect this leadership role.
In response to this void, this mixed methods study funded by the American Library Association Office of Diversity utilized a survey to examine the technology integration skills of school librarians. A total of 401 school librarians who indicated that they were technology leaders in their schools participated in the study. The results presented in this chapter will describe the technology leadership behaviors these school librarians engage in and the factors that impact these behaviors.
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Acknowledgement
I sincerely appreciate the American Library Association Office of Diversity for funding this research. Thank you to Erin Keefe for assisting with the development of this chapter.
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Smith, D. (2014). From Theory to Practice: An Examination of How School Librarians Implement Technology in Schools. In: Orey, M., Jones, S., Branch, R. (eds) Educational Media and Technology Yearbook. Educational Media and Technology Yearbook, vol 38. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06314-0_8
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