ICT Leaders: Conclusion, Observations and References

ICT Leaders: Conclusions, Observations and References

In completing this assignment, many commonalities between the ICT Leaders became apparent, thus the creation of the diagrams indicating what ICT leaders do, and roles they play. Although not all of the ICT leaders summarized shared exactly the same path, they all shared something: a love of ICT and Education.

One thing stood out to me besides the wealth of knowledge and diverse experiences of the people I investigated; that being the fact that the individuals are all from North America. I pondered on this thought, and myself now living in Europe wondered why none of the leading ICT people are from Europe or China for that matter. I did some further investigation only to find that it was very difficult to find information on ICT leaders in this area of the world. I did read about a European conference put on by Microsoft, where Bill Gates spoke of progress in technology in the EU. Further investigation lead me to find that in the EU, Denmark and Sweden are the ICT leaders. (http://www.oresundit.com/composite-1923.htm, 2005) Could the lack of information about individual ICT leaders here be reflective of the possibility that in the EU, groups or commissions are formed rather than having individuals rise as experts in the field as they do in North America? I am not sure what the answer to this question is, but I am curious to find out.

I know from living in the Netherlands and working in the school system here that ICT has not be a huge priority as it has been in North America. At the school I work at, there is no funding for specialized equipment for students with special needs at all. Parents or individuals would have to pay for equipment to support the investment for their child.
Teachers are just being introduced to methods of technology integration with the curriculum. In contrast, Britain has spent double the amount on ICT this year compared to book purchases. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4746438.stm, 2006) I gather that each country is going at its own pace in terms of ICT and its development in education.

In conclusion, I enjoyed reading about how each leader started at the bottom of their fields, most of them being teachers first. It has inspired me to continue my personal love of ICT. Who knows where it might bring me in the future?



References

http://www.oresundit.com/composite-1923.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4746438.stm

http://www.2learn.ca/Projects/Together/judi.htmlurces

http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/bdodge/Professional.html


http://www.fno.org/JM/aboutauthor.html

http://www.novemberlearning.com/Default.aspx?tabid=179

http://school.discovery.com/edtechconnect/kathyschrock/bio.html

http://www.tcpd.org/Thornburg/Bio.html

http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat015.shtml

http://www.blogger.com/profile/37149

http://kathyschrock.net/blog/

http://nlcommunities.com/communities/alannovember/default.aspx

http://www.fno.org/

http://www.officeport.com/jharris/

http://teacherline.pbs.org/teacherline/resources/bio_thornburg.cfm