Purpose

The purpose of this study was to better understand the challenges faced by leaders who have demonstrated excellence in integrating technology into teaching and learning in P-12 schools in the United States.

Design/methodology/approach

This case study of technology savvy P-12 school principals provides insights into how building leaders overcome digital technology innovation challenges. In the summer of 2017, the authors interviewed 12 of the 18 recipients of the NASSP Digital Principal Award. These principals serve as examples of how to lead schools in the digital age.

Findings

Using Bolman and Deal's (2013) conceptual framework, the authors analyzed the data around the four frames (i.e., political, structural, human resources, and symbolic) to understand the challenges of being a digital principal. Bolman and Deal posited leaders who function predominantly in a single frame may miss essential organizational change elements.

Research limitations/implications

The authors recognize several limitations in this study. First, the nominating process for the NASSP Digital Principals award involves an application process. Thus, while these principals were recognized for meeting these criteria, it is possible that these awardees were selected based on their nomination materials rather than on actual longitudinal evidence. Second, this study's data were gathered through interviews. The authors did not gather data through student work samples, teacher and staff interviews, or other data points, but rather the single data point of principal perspectives through interviews.

Originality/value

One silver lining from the pandemic is that leading schools cannot be detangled from the digital needs of diverse stakeholders. As such, digital principalship has become the new norm where the principal leads on a screen, teachers teach on a screen, and students learn on a screen. The award-winning digital principals in this study played an integral role in how they message their school's story, how they navigate and design structures, how they overcome political realities, and how they invest in addressing the needs of individuals.

中文翻译：

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成为精通数字的校长的挑战

目的

本研究的目的是更好地了解在美国 P-12 学校将技术融入教学和学习方面表现出色的领导者所面临的挑战。

设计/方法/方法

这个对精通技术的 P-12 学校校长的案例研究提供了关于建筑领导者如何克服数字技术创新挑战的见解。2017 年夏天，作者采访了 NASSP 数字校长奖的 18 位获奖者中的 12 位。这些校长是如何在数字时代领导学校的例子。

发现

使用 Bolman 和 Deal (2013) 的概念框架，作者分析了围绕四个框架（即政治、结构、人力资源和象征）的数据，以了解成为数字委托人的挑战。Bolman 和 Deal 假定主要在单一框架中运作的领导者可能会错过重要的组织变革要素。

研究限制/影响

作者认识到本研究的一些局限性。首先，NASSP 数字校长奖的提名过程涉及一个申请过程。因此，虽然这些校长因符合这些标准而获得认可，但这些获奖者的选择可能是根据他们的提名材料而不是实际的纵向证据。其次，本研究的数据是通过访谈收集的。作者没有通过学生作业样本、教师和工作人员访谈或其他数据点收集数据，而是通过访谈收集主要观点的单一数据点。

原创性/价值

大流行的一线希望是，一流的学校不能与不同利益相关者的数字需求脱节。因此，数字校长已成为校长在屏幕上领导、教师在屏幕上授课、学生在屏幕上学习的新常态。本研究中屡获殊荣的数字校长在如何传达学校故事、如何导航和设计结构、如何克服政治现实以及如何投资以满足个人需求方面发挥了不可或缺的作用。