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Effective principal leadership influencing technology innovation in the classroom

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Abstract

This paper reports on the implementation of a humanoid robot in five school settings and evaluates the success of the implementation based on the leadership of the school principal. As part of a wider three-year multiple case study research study that investigated the use of humanoid robots in different school settings, a robot was placed in the five selected schools for a fixed period of time to see how the technology was used and how the principal’s leadership impacted on the implementation in the classroom. Multiple case study design approach allowed for exploration of the use of humanoid robots in each setting as well as a comparison between the settings. Teachers planned lessons incorporating the unfamiliar technology and used the humanoid robot as a tool to make their classes more engaging, relevant, and authentic for their students. The findings of this study highlight that principals who were invested in the implementation of the humanoid robot in the classroom, fostered a positive learning community, and were directly supporting and encouraging of their teachers; led their team to a successful implementation of the new technology in their school.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. William Keane for proof reading and editing this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia

    Therese Keane

  2. School of IT and Electrical Engineering, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia

    Marie Boden

  3. Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane City, Queensland, Australia

    Christina Chalmers

  4. Association of Independent Schools of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Monica Williams

Authors
  1. Therese Keane
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  2. Marie Boden
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  3. Christina Chalmers
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  4. Monica Williams
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Correspondence to Therese Keane.

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Ethics committee of the following institutions: Swinburne University, University of Queensland & Queensland University of Technology. All participants were informed of the voluntary nature of their participation and could omit any questions and discontinue at any time. All participants’ data have been anonymized.

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Keane, T., Boden, M., Chalmers, C. et al. Effective principal leadership influencing technology innovation in the classroom. Educ Inf Technol 25, 5321–5338 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-020-10217-0

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