Leadership and the E-Learning Organization

Leadership and the e-Learning Organization Susan Smith Nash Texture Press – 2006 Leadership and the e-Learning Organization Susan Smith Nash Copyright 2006 by Susan Smith Nash. All rights reserved. ISBN: 0-9712061-6-3 Library of Congress Control Number: 2006902533 Texture Press Guilderland, NY 12084 e-mail: [email protected] Table of Contents Vision and Leadership in the E-Learning Organization Appropriate Leadership for Learning Organizations Upward Mobility in the Distance Institution: Factors Influencing Prestige and Status in Online Programs Charismatic Leadership and the E-Learning Organization Vision and Leadership in the E-Learning Organization Characteristics of Transformational Leaders in the E-Learning Organization Distributed Leadership in the E-Learning Organization Podcasts and e-Learning Podcast Theory Gap Listening to What Interests You: Podcasts for Effective E-Learning Podcasts and Working Memory: A Breakthrough for E-Learning? Learning and Teaching Strategies that Work Learning Strategies Applied to Online Courses Goal-Setting and Self-Regulation in Online Courses: The Basics Rehearsal and Repetition May Be Bad for Learning: Learning Strategies That Work Text Representation and Cognitive Processes: How the Mind Makes Meaning in e-Learning Rehumanizing the e-Learning Space The Role of Relevancy in Online Courses Why Online Collaborations Fail Review of What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy Constructivists ‘R’ Us: Pick the Epistemology that Works for You Stop! You're Scaring Me! Hyper-Identities in E- Learning In Hurricanes and Helicopters: E-Learners In Extremus Failing the E-Learner In Extremus: Where Online Courses Can Miss the Mark Network-centric Warfare and Implications for Distributed Education Appropriate Technology Applied to Online and Distance Education Guiding E-Learners: Strategies for Effective Teaching The Instructor and the Online Military Student: A Confession In Extremus Distance Education Success Hinges on Enhanced Learner Autonomy Accessibility Standards: Guidelines for Web Content Developers Developing Online Courses for the Visually Impaired The Business of Distance and Flexible Courses and Programs Business Trends and E-Learning: Affiliates, Monetizing, Direct Navigation Communities of Practice: Role of Taxonomies and Classification Schemes Taxonomies of Practice: Learning Object Repositories in E-Learning The Cottage Industry Problem in Online Education Solving the "Cottage Industry" Problem in E- Learning Programs Eliminating Academic Sweatshops Distributed Communities of Practice in E- Learning Cross-Training and Cross-Tasking in Distance Program Development and Administration Please Make Me Think! Creating Engaging and Relevant Online Courses First Vodka, Now Madonna: The Image of Che Guevara Still Sells: Using Pop Culture Images to Teach Students to Relocate the Dislocated Referent Miracle Herbal Cures from the Rain Forest: Purple Lapacho -- Anti-Cancer or Rain Forest Mirage? Shipwrecks, Lost Gold, Pirate's Treasure Chests: The Process Essay Pit Bull Brainstorming: The Great Concatenation of Questions Piracy in the Straits of Malacca: An Interactive Exercise Taking a Class on Shakespeare on T-Mobile SideKick or Cell Phone -- A Few Ideas The "Bambi Effect" -- Why We Hate It When Cute Creatures (or Beliefs) Are Threatened or Harmed Courses that Encourage Diversity Situated Learning in Online Courses Virtual Internships for Online Business Classes: A Project Tom Clancy Splinter Cell in an Online Course Management Issues in the E-Learning Organization What Keeps E-Learning Organizations Stuck in “Catch-Up” Mode? Psychological Climate in Online Learning Organizations The Bare Necessities: Pivotal Conditions for Blended and Distance Learning Annual Check-Up for Your Learning Organization Leadership and the Future of the E-Learning Organization Creative Partnering: Build Alliances, Student and Faculty Base, Diversified Cash Flow Authentic Leadership in the E-Learning Organization: A View for the Future Things won are done; joy's soul lies in the doing. William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, Act 1, Scene 2 With thanks and appreciation for all those whom I have had the privilege to meet and to work with over the years. Vision and Leadership in the E-Learning Organization Appropriate Leadership for Learning Organizations As learning organizations seek to expand their distance programs which include online and mobile technology-enabled delivery systems as well as hybrid, or blended solutions, and they endeavor to find the best and most appropriate use of technology, there is an increasing awareness that the strategic planning methods of the past are often inadequate. Leadership theories that focus on managing change often do not directly address the clash between long-term constituencies who have unchanging long-term goals, and a radically and rapidly changing world. In such situations, the goals and desired outcomes may be fairly constant, but the methods of achieving them are constantly problematized by situational, financial and technological barriers and change. Scores of new books have claimed to offer the one sure remedy for dealing with change, while the latest and greatest leadership guru proffers up catchy one-size-fits-all catch-phrases. Slogans are good, but they are often inadequate when the problem is complex and a solution requires careful study and analysis. Again, it is no exaggeration to say that there are literally thousands of books and articles on leadership. In this area, leadership theories continue to cross-pollinate across fields (military leadership lessons for business; business for military; ancient philosophers for modern leaders, etc.), the demand seems to be in no way satisfied. Although one can argue that leadership is a very hands-on, applied art, and that the lessons of history seem to be doomed to be disregarded, there seems to be a universal groundswell about leadership. If we study it enough, perhaps this time we'll get it right, seems to be the unstated message. For the learning organization, this approach can be helpful, but unless the leadership issues are placed in real-world contexts, and the leadership challenges unique to a distributed, distant environment are honestly depicted, studying and applying examples from other fields can have disastrous results. The pitfalls of uncritically applying popular leadership lessons and theories from other fields or times are briefly discussed below. Transformational Leadership. This is a theory that, when properly applied, can help a leader and team members bring out the best in each person, with very positive results in terms of achieving the mission and all desired outcomes. However, many influential writers have glamorized transformation and transformational leadership to the point that it has become almost synonymous with emotional catharsis combined with structural metamorphosis that follows the words pronounced by a charismatic leader. The transformational leader, if some of the more enthusiastic apologists are to believed, can take any individual or group -- no matter or distant or disenfranchised -- and turn them into true believers, who are galvanized by an incontrovertible truth -- The Vision. In extreme cases, the vision is not arrived at through mutual buy-in or a team effort. Instead, it is pronounced by the leader. Transformation in order to align oneself or one’s unit to the vision is expected, even required, and team members must demonstrate evidence of their transformation, which can result in a kind of conformity that discourages risk-taking and creative problem-solving. In the world of online and distance learning, rapid change required rapid response and the freedom to make decisions and changes at a very local level. Most adherents to the transformational leadership camp would claim that their approach allows individuals to enjoy freedom to think in non- conventional ways. However, closer examination reveals that a too-tight adherence to one interpretation of the vision will stifle creativity, and impose a political and/or ideological presence that was not there before. Transactional Leadership. In today's world, it seems that no one wants to be a transactional leader. Transactional leadership is boring, because it focuses on workmanship-like process, and it defines itself in terms of actions. To those who have been completely seduced by the notion of self-actualization through transformational leadership, this is dull fare indeed. In this case, transactional leadership smacks of bureaucracy, with checklists of tasks and deadlines. However, in a distributed environment, sometimes transactional is the appropriate leadership style. By creating functional blocks of work, with clear tasks, and assigned responsibilities, it is possible to assign work to people in far-flung locations, separated by time zones and schedules. Distributed Leadership. Leadership is distributed throughout the organization, and the role of leader changes constantly, depending upon the needs of the organization, or the task to be accomplished. In this case, the organization is broken down into functional units, or teams. Teams tend to be functional, and communities of practice tend to arise spontaneously, based in need, resources, and specific time constraints. Distributed leadership approaches are very effective in a setting where team members are moving constantly, and resources (information, financial, inputs) are also in flux. In this case, to have positive results, it is

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