Breakthrough Leadership in the Digital Age

"This is a great "how to" book for any district that is interested in tackling the technology challenges for our students. It gives a new way to think about instructional delivery and how to best prepare ourselves for facilitating learning in the 21st Century." -- Colleen Jones,Assistant Superintendent for Academic Services "The democratization of information and the availability of technology are two of the biggest issues facing American public education today and can have a transformative impact on teaching and learning. But we can't simply plug new devices into old classrooms. In Breakthrough Leadership in the Digital Age, Hess and Saxberg make it clear that we can only fully leverage the educational possibilities of technology if we are willing to become "learning engineers" first, and redesign our schools, classrooms, and teaching practices to take full advantage of these tools. This will require bold leadership and dramatic changes to the way we structure our school day, train our educators, and deliver instruction. This book is an important part of the conversation about what it means to education children in the 21st century." -- Joshua P. Starr, Ed. D., Superintendent "Hess and Saxberg offer a powerful read for principals as the chief 'learning engineers' in schools. Instructional leaders know that technology has changed the complexion of schools and classrooms, but their leadership is needed to steward its use to solve learning challenges. Principals are becoming masters of navigating programs, gadgets, and curricula to best utilize resources. Applying the principles of learning science to these leadership competencies will deepen the level of thinking about technology, and lead to more meaningful student outcomes. By deconstructing learning science and making the connection to technology, the authors have outlined key strategies for school leaders as they work to transform traditional practices in schools. The insights and ideas put forth by Hess and Saxberg will help principals implement myriad practices that fully realize the potential of technology and digital learning. Whether it is whole-school reform or targeted interventions, principals will be motivated to rethink or 're-engineer' the use of technology to optimize teaching and learning." -- Gail Connelly, Executive Director "Breakthrough Leadership in the Digital Age provides clear insights and thoughtful design to help schools understand that the main thing with technology is not the technology; it is what you do with it. The authors provide a powerful example vital to the understanding of creating classrooms that are full of 'learning engineers' including teachers and students." -- Mark Edwards, Superintendent "Hess & Saxberg are spot on about the right future for the role of science and technology in education. They wonderfully combine an enthusiasm for new and creative approaches with a clear-minded 'does it really work?' skepticism. This book presents the most clear argument I have seen that learning science can make a huge difference in improving student learning and lowering costs." -- Ken Koedinger, Professor of Human-Computer Interaction and Psychology "Technology alone will not improve teaching or learning in our schools. However, as Hess and Saxberg have succinctly lain out, if leveraged properly by effective educators, technology can and will have a profound impact on the educational landscape. It is important that all education stakeholders embrace this way of thinking in order to effectively move technology use in schools beyond just quantity of devices to quality of learning experiences." -- Josh Stumpenhorst, Junior High Teacher (2012 Illinois Teacher of the Year) "As we educators expect our children to think deeply and critically about the world, around them, we should expect nothing less of ourselves. Here, Rick and Bror provide us with an outline for that thinking. They push us to ask the right questions as we challenge the conventional approaches to learning within our schools. This book is about far more than educational technology; it is a call to critical thought from an orientation that aims first and foremost to provide excellent learning opportunities for our children." -- Mark Murphy, Secretary of Education "This is a "must read" book for educational leaders, policymakers, educational product developers and those of us who have a stake in our education system. While many books have described ways that educational technology can help save our K-12 education system, this book is different. Hess and Saxberg combine a realistic view of technology with an engaging and acurate description of what we know about learning sciences and a discussion about how to combine the two. Their concern is that technology is often a solution in search of a problem to solve--a solution that seems very seldom to bring expected benefits. They remind us with brief cautionary stories that different technologies are empty vehicles that are most often used to deliver educational products whose impact has ranged from destructive to ineffective--but also that occasionally their impact is positive and game-changing. They describe many popular but failed approaches that should be avoided because of solid evidence that they don't work. They also offer compelling examples to support their view that the best outcomes occus when forward-thinking school leaders combine solid, evidence-based learning strategies chosen to solve identified problems, with cost-effective technology. They describe the strategies they recommend. They offer clear and specific pointers about how to use these learning science based strategies and an engineering approach to create smart school reform (with and without technology)." -- Richard E. Clark, Professor Emeritus of Educational Psychology and Technology "Technology gives us the opportunity to customize education and meet student needs like never before. It's our moral imperative to avoid the next achievement gap between students who master technology and those who do not. Hess and Saxberg's vision for technology's integration into America's schools presents a powerful solution to some of the most important questions facing education leaders today." -- Dr. Tony Bennett, Former Florida Commissioner of Education "Everyone touching education-from educators to school leaders and from investors and philanthropists to entrepreneurs-needs to understand how to think like a learning engineer and read this book. Technology holds unbelievable promise to be a part of the solution to transform education, but it won't happen unless all parties attack its implementation smartly. Digital Leadership points the way forward." -- Michael B. Horn, Education Executive Director "Hess and Saxberg cut through the ed-tech hype and identify great instruction as the key to improved learning outcomes. Teachers, as well as school and district leaders, will find in these pages an effective blueprint for trying and deploying instructional technologies that is at once deeply conceptual and entirely practical." -- Stacey Childress, Deputy Director of Education "Hess & Saxberg recognize that thoughtful use of technology in schools is not primarily technical nor technological - rather, it is human. Or, as the old cartoon character Pogo said, I have seen the enemy, and it is me. Breakthrough Leadership in the Digital Age is a must-read for education leaders who want to harness the possibility of new tools, and do so in a thoughtful way that makes a difference for learning." -- Keith Krueger, CEO "The concept of a 'learning engineer' is nothing short of an overdue revolution in thinking about innovation in public education. Leaders across the educator sector, who are committed to improvement in service to kids, must resist the silver bullet promise of shiny new tools air-dropped into yesterday's classrooms. Hess and Saxberg tell us why, and more importantly, how to squarely place people as the drivers of innovation. The pragmatic approach laid out in this book will help leaders recognize that kids need more than touch screens. They need teachers, school and district leaders, and policy makers who approach this work as entrepreneurial problem finders, thoughtfully applying technology as a solution when and where it makes sense." -- Jennifer Medbery, Founder & CEO "It's not the tools, as Rick and Bror point out; it's the new potential to engineer engaging pathways to mastery, to leveraging great technology and buying time for teachers to build powerful sustained relationships with young people. Rick's attention to 'Cage-busting Leadership' and Bror's relentless demand for learning R&D make them great co-authors--and make this a must read." -- Tom Vander Ark, Author & CEO "This important book urges readers to create powerful, new learning environments based on learning science. Technology can be transformative when we focus on actual learning experiences and not just the shiniest gadget." -- Alex Hernandez, Partner "This book provides powerful insight into why state, civic, and system leaders should rethink policies, practices, and procedures related to technology and its usage in our classrooms. Too often, our current structures fail to promote and support learning engineering. Rick Hess and Bror Saxberg have designed a compelling guide for the road ahead." -- William Hite, Superintendent "'Learning engineering,' the application of learning science to learning at scale, is likely to be a critical ingredient to make progress in on-line and on-the-ground education in the years to come. The use of technology in education is finally fulfilling its potential. Bror and Frederick are leading thinkers in this accelerating space." -- Salman Khan, Founder & Executive Director