Partnership in Educational Professionalism (PEP)
Course number and title: PRDV 76325: METAA Chief Technology Officer Certificate Course
Credits: 3
Class dates and times: Instructor-led online course with required weekly participation for 16 weeks
Location: Online
Instructor: Loretta Cannistraci
lcannistraci@techdirectors.org
Tel: 781-775-2534
Course Description: This rigorous course will build an understanding of the essential skills and knowledge in three primary areas of Leadership & Vision, Understanding the Educational Environment, and Managing Technology & Support Resources as outlined in the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) Framework of Essential Skills of the K-12 Chief Technology Officer (CTO). This course is for both prospective technology directors and incumbent technology directors. Upon completion of this course, participants will receive a course grade. The METAA Review Committee will review the LiveBinder portfolio and final project to determine the candidate’s eligibility for the METAA CTO Certificate. This certificate will give employers assurance that they will be hiring or have hired a technology administrator who possesses the vast knowledge and skills necessary to be an effective educational technology leader in the K-12 environment.
The 10 essential skill areas to be covered are:
- Leadership and Vision
- Strategic Planning
- Ethics and Policies
- Instructional Focus and Professional Development
- Team Building and Staffing
- Information Technology Management
- Communications Systems Management
- Business Management
- Data Management
- Data Privacy and Security
Course Objectives: At the end of this course, participants will receive the course grade, be considered for the METAA certificate, and be able to:
- Create a vision for how IT (Information Technology) will build your organization’s success
- Shape and inform expectations for an IT-enabled enterprise
- Create clear and appropriate IT governance
- Weave together business and IT strategies
- Build a new IS (Information Systems) organization
- Build and nurture a high-performing team in an IS organization
- Manage a new enterprise and associated IT tasks
- Communicate IS performance in business-relevant language
Course Expectations: Since this is an online course, the attendance requirement is met through consistent participation in discussion area focus activities. Participation is an asynchronous group activity. Students are expected to log into the course at least three times per week to stay current with assignments and expectations. Course participants whose responses and completion of activities do not meet the timelines each week impact the entire class. Please review the Online Discussion Rubric in Appendix A: Online Discussion Rubric.
Requirements: Masters is highly recommended. Four years as technology director is necessary to be eligible to take the COSN CETL examination but not required for the METAA CTO certificate or to take this course.
Time Commitment: Approximately five hours a week includes reading/research, creation and maintenance of a Live Binder portfolio including weekly reflections. A key piece of this commitment involves posting and responding in the online discussion with citations noted. During each week, the participant is expected to work independently within the deadlines posted. The exact time required will vary from person to person.
Course Content: Weekly schedule of the topics that will be covered and all assignments due for that week are listed in Appendix B: Course Content.
Course Materials:
- CoSN’s CETL Exam Preparation Materials: Become a Highly Capable School System Technology Leader (provided through tuition)
- LiveBinder account (free electronic portfolio)
- Access to equipment that allows for online communications
The coursework will make clear reference to CoSN’s Framework of Essential Skills of the K-12 CTO. The Frameworks can be accessed online at:
Withdrawal from Course: In order to withdraw from the course it is NOT enough to simply stop participating in the course. You must formally withdraw from a class. Otherwise a failing grade may be entered for a class you have not completed. Tuition is non-refundable.
Grading Criteria:
Discussion Participation (40%)
The discussions are central to the online learning experience. The instructor will evaluate the learners’ levels of engagement in the conversation and their abilities to raise ideas and questions that spark the thinking of others. These discussions are held in a threaded discussion board. All assigned readings and materials in this course are to be studied within the context of “information processing” rather than being able to recall each specific item. Your ability to process the information will not be measured in quizzes and tests but by your participation in the discussion forums.
There is the overarching expectation that postings are substantive, presenting new ideas as follows:
- At least three postings each week including citations from readings:
- Initial posting responds directly to the week’s question
- Minimum of two additional postings respond to postings of at least one other student
- Postings build on the postings of others.
- Postings present your own ideas and examples of application, such as in your (or others’) workplace.
- Postings are supported by properly cited readings.
- Postings are clearly written, with proper spelling and grammar.
Online Discussion Rubric is attached as Appendix A.
Live Binder Final Project and Weekly Reflections (30%)
Participants will complete the electronic portfolio for submission to the METAA Review Committee. All participants will maintain an electronic portfolio through LiveBinder (www.livebinders.com) that allows the user to combine uploaded documents, links, and multi- media content into an electronic portfolio. The electronic portfolio will be organized according to the skill areas and each section will contain any relevant work and research for each area. Students will also submit reflections into LiveBinder each week. Learners will explain their understanding of required readings and reflect on specific questions associated with the course readings and online discussion. The final project will be a compilation of the materials required for this course. The portfolio is intended to be a living document resource for the participant. Additionally, a combination of the course grade and recommendation of the METAA Review Committee will determine eligibility to receive the METAA CTO Certificate.
Final Essay (30%)
At the end of the course, participants will be asked to write an essay that demonstrates learning throughout this course as a response to a scenario that technology directors may encounter in the work experience. The essay response will be considered as 30% of the final grade and is also part of the portfolio to be reviewed by the METAA Review Committee to determine eligibility to receive the METAA CTO Certificate.