4.5 Technology assisted school counselor and principal collaboration  (Page 3/16)

For example, William P. Pepin, Guidance Department Chairperson at North Smithfield Junior-Senior High School in Rhode Island writes:

"I am a strong proponent of technology and its benefits in the North Smithfield School District. Our school counselors and administrators use technology as a tool to collaborate on numerous issues. We use email and district wide servers to frequently work on projects together and to help organize schedules and meeting times. We have a separate folder on a shard drive that the counselors, technology staff, and administrators can use to share documents. We have been updating our graduation requirements with a draft that has been to the school admin, district admin, myself, and the RI Department of Education."

"Our new student information system, Infinite Campus, has allowed individuals with proper access to use data on both small and large levels. We can now examine data and make data based decisions in a way that we were never able to before. We are still implementing the system, but I look forward to using it to make better decisions." (personal communication, July 13, 2009).

Overcoming limitations of space (or distance)

By using appropriate technology, school counselors and administrators can collaborate with others from all over the world providing a body of resources and professional colleagues that would not otherwise readily present themselves. Collaborating with others on an international scale can also provide educators with a sense of belonging, a sense of camaraderie within a larger community. Using technology to collaborate, counselors and administrators can actively and interactively contribute to exploring innovative ideas and share best practices. With electronic collaboration, the adage "two heads are better than one" could just as easily be "two hundred heads are better than one." One person's provocative question can lead to many creative, exciting solutions. By sharing what they know with others, participants advance their own knowledge and the collaborative community's knowledge.

Overcoming limitations of pace (or efficiency)

Typically, during the school day educators are pressed for time and lack opportunities to stop and reflect on their work experiences or move beyond on-the-fly brainstorming that often happens by chance in the hallway (Finkelstein, 2009). The asynchronous nature of electronic collaboration allows participants to contribute to the conversation when it’s convenient and to reflect on what others have said before responding. In addition, having to articulate professional struggles and suggestions in writing forces writers to take time to be thoughtful and reflect carefully about new ideas and pathways (Koufman-Frederick, Lillie, Pattison-Gordon, Watt,&Carter 1999).

Overcoming limitations of time

Most educators are accustomed to short-term professional development seminars and workshops that provide finite information. Similarly, traditional collaboration occurs mostly during defined and time limited meetings convenient to all parties involved. Electronic collaboration allows for a sustained effort where participants can propose, try out, refine, and shape ideas themselves using a combination of live and electronic media or venues. For instance, counselors and administrators could attend (at the same time, different times; from one location or different locations) an online seminar (better known as a webinar) about, say, how to identify achievement gaps by disaggregating student data. They can then later interact over a follow up discussion board where participants share how they have demonstrated what they learned at their own schools. As they continue, they may identify a “sister” school to work more closely with and schedule a video conference to partner and further collaborate.