The Force of ChangeUse of technology and sustainability

Group 3Transcontinental Activity

Group 3

Sacramento, CA Marian Nichols EriCa Wellington Linda Norman

Philadelphia, PA Traci Fox

Introduction

Our theme is that of the use of technology towards sustainability Specifically, the paperless environment

There are environmental and financial benefits to adopting a paperless environment

This presentation will discuss how this force impacts leaders, followers, and the current and future situation

The force of using technology to go paperless impacts the higher-education leader with the challenge of finding a feasible and sustainable way to move the followers to adopt a paperless lifestyle and make great contributions to help save our environment at the same time

A higher-education leader must embrace and compliment followers to develop a system of action to create positive change to a paperless environment (Kotter, 2008, p.5)

Effects on Faculty (Leaders)

The art of inducing compliance

The exercise of influence

An instrument of goal achievement

A set of acts or behaviors

An effect of group interaction

A set of acts or behaviors

Understanding Concepts of Leadership

Leader’s Options to Create/Sustain Paperless Environment

Neck and Manz, 2010, p2.

All of the previous descriptions have merit; however, the most useful definition, focusing on the importance of self-leadership, is simply the “exercise of influence” (Neck & Manz, 2010, p.2)

A higher-education leader must provide positive incentives to followers to share in making and carrying out the plan to change to a paperless environment successful

Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership: Model the Way Inspire a shared vision Challenge the Process Enable Others to Act Encourage the Heart

(Kouzes, J. & Posner, B., 2008, p.26)

Effects on Faculty (Leaders)

Effects on Students (Followers) When an effective leader makes a decision to

implement a change in the environment of a classroom, it is essential to include students in the decision making process. Delbecq (2009) argues that “involving relevant stakeholders increase the quality of decisions…shared ownership, cooperation and ease of implementation.” (p.493)

Today’s emerging technology in the classroom is preparing students for the ever changing technological workforce where various modes of information technology are introduced

Effects on Students (Followers) Based on research (Teeter et al., 2007; Dalgarno et al.,

2007), students identified six key benefits using technology in the classroom: Acquiring new technological skills may help students

transferring into the workplace to obtain a good job Electronic submission of assignments saves students time

allowing extra time for understanding and studying course material

Reduces clutter and convenient to use Improves timely feedback from instructor While keeping up-to-date with technology, students found

course material more effective and interesting in class Reduction in the likelihood of lost assignments, especially if a

central database driven submission and return system is used

Effects on Students (Followers) In a recent student survey conducted by Dalgarno et al.

(2007), it was found that there were both advantages and disadvantages to going paperless in a higher-education environment. The advantages were identified as “reductions in time delays, ability to retrieve feedback while away from home, improved legibility of feedback, reduced printing, and more convenient storage of past assignments.” (p.162) One of the disadvantages to going paperless was “problems with uploading over slow Internet connections” (p.165)

With the incorporation of advanced technology and portable devices (i.e. laptops, tablets) in the classroom, students are able to use similar and familiar techniques (i.e. highlight text, take notes in the margin and access a dictionary directly within the book itself) as they would with conventional text books. In order to reduce costs, paperless is the way to go as a majority of students would agree

Effects on Higher Education

The environment necessary for a paperless educational experience exists right now. This is found in the technology to provide the paper free transfer of information and data (Hussainn & Khadem, 2007) as well as in all areas of the educational experience including lectures, homework, quizzes, and examinations (Jadali, 1999)

Higher education can create a paperless environment through web-based applications, such as electronic books, e-learning campus, digital libraries, computer based learning systems, database management systems, videoconferencing technologies, distance learning, and smart card applications with multimedia enabled features (Hussainn & Khadem, 2007)

Effects on Higher Education The paperless environment can impact

student support services, such as: Application status Administrative directory Faculty directory Examination results retrieval Notification of class schedules Registered course detail (Hussainn & Khadem, 2007, p. 306)

Effects on Higher Education E- learning (electronically supported teaching and

learning) is the most acceptable way to reach a complete paperless learning environment (Hussain & Khadem, 2007). E-learning systems require new curriculum delivery and teaching techniques, tech support for students and staff, nonstop servers and networks, a secure transmission of documents, and a reengineering of administrative processes (p. 313)

While e-learning systems create a paperless environment, it does require all student and staff users to have computer access, skills and support, as well as access to electricity

Growth

In order for technological changes (such as going paperless) to succeed, leaders must relinquish practices and concepts that they hold dear – whether habits, perceptions or practices

The leader has to be willing to grow in order to effect change and growth in the followers and in the situation

(Heifitz & Linsk,y, 2010)

Conclusion

Technology to create a paperless environment is becoming more and more ubiquitous

Leaders need to adopt the technology in order for it to propagate to the followers Or is it the other way around?

The future situation will demand paperless, whether purely as result of budgetary reductions or for sustainability reasons

References

Dalgarno, B., Chan, A., Adams, P., Roy, P., and Miller, D. (2007) On campus and distance student attitudes towards paperless assessment and feedback. Retrieved from http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/singapore07/procs/dalgarno.pdf

Delbecq, A. (2009). Nourishing the soul of the leader. J. V. Gallos, (Ed.). Business Leadership (pp. 486-503). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Gallos, J. (Ed.). (2010). Business leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.

Glen, P. (2010). Leading geeks: Technology and leadership. J. Gallos (Ed.). Business leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.

Heiftz, R. & Linsky, L. (2010). A survival guide for leaders. J. Gallos (Ed.). Business leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.

References

Hussain, S., & Khadem, S. (2007). Multimedia university: A paperless environment to take the challenges for the 21st century. AACE Journal, 15(3), 289-289-314. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/61937491?accountid=10559; http://www.editlib.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=21797

Jadali, F. (1999). Paperless classrooms. Tech Directions, 59(3), 14-14. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/218521429?accountid=10559

Kotter, J. (2010). What leaders really do. J. Gallos (Ed.). Business leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.

Kouzes, J. & Posner, B. (2010). The five practices of exemplary leadership. J. Gallos (Ed.). Business leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.

Neck, C. & Manz, C. (2010). Mastering self leadership: Empowering yourself for personal excellence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Teeter, S., Madsen, S., Hughes, J. and Eagar, B. (2007). The perceptions and experiences of students in a paperless accounting class. The Journal Of Effective Teaching, 7(1), 15-30.