Nine Essential Digital Era Skills for Education Leaders

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As the world is growing with pace, it is important for education leaders to equipage themselves with the power of digital technologies to create a relevant, transparent, flexible, valuable, and engaging environment for students, parents, and colleagues. To change the existing work culture and to bring a new and increased level of growth and achievement we need to start the transformation from today. So the first step to do this is to understand the digital era skills along with the misconceptions that often surround the technological sources. There are various fears and misconceptions rooted in some of the institutions related to the effectiveness of technology, but it is often important to clear them by having a proper understanding to improve various surfaces of leadership. The most important question that arises among institutions is why they should opt for technology, how it will help them, and from where they should begin it, right? So having digital skills you can nurture a strategic mindset that leverage and cultivate the complete environment towards engagement and achievement. Let’s discuss some of the essential digital era skills that education leaders must have: 1. Communication through digital equipment Education leaders now need to have tremendous communication skills along with having thorough knowledge about technology. You just need to have all the relevant information in real-time about all the variety of digital equipment that is necessary at this time. You can use websites, newsletters, emails, to discuss the current trends and information with the stakeholders along with providing them the desired information. To get connected with stakeholders, use online communication tools such as Skype, Zoom, Google Meet, and others. These will keep you in touch with them giving them a feeling of caring and understanding educators. 2. Connectivity with the World It is often important to tell our story to others, education leaders need to become storytellers, explaining their experiences to the audience, now in this current COVID-19 scenario, social media gives us the biggest platform and tools to maintain a good connection and to find new people that we think to have in our connections. By doing this, you can create a share of all the positives that are associated with our schools along with creating a level of transparency. 3. Be Proficient in Using Data Systems There are different ways of using data systems in every country, state, and even district. So it is important to follow all the rules regarding the data systems. You must need to have good learning and knowledge about the student information systems, learning management systems, HR, and finance systems. 4. Branding Along with the modernization and change in technology, branding for educational institutions also needs to be changed. As an education leader, you just need to choose social media tools to generate a positive presence of your brand that must include the positive aspects of your school, college, or university, using it you can increase community pride helping attract students/parents that are looking to have admissions. 5. Student Engagement Whether you opt for any marketing or technological strategy, it is important to remember that your core focus must need to be student learning. Students must need to be engaged in activities that can help them in learning. Now it is high time that educational leaders should understand that, you need to allow students to apply what they have learned using different digital tools that they are using in the real world. Real-world tools will help the students to learn and create artifacts of learning explaining their real capabilities. This will expand communication, creativity, media literacy, and a lot more things. 6. Professional Development There are various sites, newsletters, and platforms where education leaders can get the bulk of information anytime, they can learn new things as per their needs targeting their self-learning and professional development. Leaders also get the opportunity to make their network of people where they can acquire resources, knowledge, and receive feedback in all forms connecting with people in the education field. Professional development also needs strategic learning for teaching and learning. 7. Opt for Email Marketing Strategically Emails are still the most professional form of communication, so using email marketing for your stakeholders you can move a step forward in becoming an education leader. Meanwhile, it is suggested to respond to every email that you get from students, parents, or from any other source, responding to group emails without replying to all can be a good action, as the person on the other hand, may understand that you are important for him personally. 8. Re-visualizing learning spaces and environments Once as an education leader, if you have understood the pillars of digital era skills and how to use them along with doing some reliable changes. The next step is to bring some positive changes in learning spaces and environments that support essential skill sets and are useful for the real world. Education leaders must need to create a vision along with having strategic planning to create an educational environment dedicated to digital learning. 9. Pick Opportunities It is important for leaders to consistently peak improvements in whatever they are doing, you must always need to attain existing programs, resources, and professional development. As an education leader, you just need to seek opportunities that can make improvements across your school/college/university. Conclusion Education leaders need to cater for transformation at every phase, they need continuous improvement in all the processes they go through. Hope the above points helped you have a better understanding of the digital era skills for education leaders. So begin your journey by identifying each obstacle to change the complete education scenario into better ways.

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