EFFECTS OF TECHNOLOGY TO EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP SETUP AND PERFORMANCE OF DepEd KEY OFFICIALS IN THE NEW NORMAL

Abstract

Changes in people’s life and work is inevitable and a new chapter in human development with extraordinary technology advances are the current trend. The study focused on the effects of educational technology leadership and performance of school officials in the new normal setting in the province of Capiz.  The research study was conducted in public schools in Capiz in the first semester of school year 2020-2021. The research design used was descriptive method. The nature of the data analysis was both qualitative and quantitative with Eighty-Eight (88) school heads as respondents from the different schools in the province of Capiz. The researcher constructed survey instrument with some ideas and concepts from the study of Anderson and Dexter (2005) and Metcalf and LaFrance (2003) was used. The instrument was validated by the panel of experts, pre-tested to 30 randomly selected respondents for validity and reliability where, reliability coefficient was 0.89. The demographic profile of the respondents such as sex, age, monthly income of the family and home location. The average time of mobile phone/laptop/computer use per day, for chatting and texting, for internet related to job performance and preference to chat/talk with teachers/employees on mobile phones/laptop/computer than face to face were included.  The level of effects of technology to leadership in terms of learning environment, technology supported instructional methods and facilities and communication; level of effects of technology to performance of school leader in terms of communication support, task – oriented  support, technological skills and competence support The inferential category covered the significant difference on effects of technology to educational leadership of key officials considering respondent’s profile, effects of technology to performance of key officials considering profile of the respondents; significant difference between the level of effects of technology to educational leadership and level of performance of key officials, the significant relationship on the level of effects of technology to educational leadership and performance of key officials and some variables and significant relationship on effects  of  technology  to educational leadership and performance of DepEd key officials in the New Normal.   The analysis and interpretation of the data was facilitated by using the descriptive statistics such as frequency count, ranking, percentage and mean were used.  For inferential statistics, t-test was used to determine the significant difference and Pearson r to determine the relationship of independent and dependent variables.The respondents were 41 - 50 years old, male and female, with income above 20,000, reside in the city, use mobile phone for 4 hours a day,  3 hours use per day for chatting and texting, 2 to 3 hours for internet related to job performance, and preferred to chat to teachers, staff and other leaders for 1 to 2 hours. Results underlined mobile phones/laptop/computer was employed for convenient ways of reaching employees and personnel in the new normal setting. The effects of technology constituted;teachers were able to simplify lessons, have real-time feedback, designed  flexible assessment criteria for student’s skills and competences have made students interactive and teacher’s re-discussion of lessons easy and comprehensive. In terms of technology supported instructional methods, education was made possible through technology in spite of hindrances and inadequacies, technology has supported the construction of instructional methods, expedite communication, capacitate teachers on technological trends and changes related to effective teaching and have a channel for first-hand feedback from students and stakeholders have improved proficiency in learning and teaching. As to facilities and communication, effects of technology was highly manifested in  improved collaboration in utilizing school resources, constructed infrastructures for more engaged environment, innovation of traditional classroom environment to technology savvy environment, provide students with the tools needed to navigate the complex world and make informed decisions as members of the community despite  of budget limitations of the school. Findings disclosed that technology serves as the leaders’ assistant in performing the multitude of work brought about by the pandemic. The performance of school leaders were positively affected by technology in terms of communication support, messages were sent to teachers and subordinates on time and in efficient manner, built capability in social networking and occasional updated about school events and attract parents and interested parties for collaboration and video conferencing. Due to technology, the performance of school leaders was very high demonstrated in simplifying tedious and repetitive tasks, upgrading assessment process, innovative skills, collaborative learning approaches, accomplished communication work, promoted automated work processes of employees but teachers and students were less motivated due to the needed intellectual efforts beyond what is required of them. The effects of technology to performance is high in terms of technological skills and competence support exhibited in teachers  Word Processing Skills, Spreadsheets Skills, Digital Cameras manipulations, Computer-Related Storage Devices (Knowledge: disks, CDs, USB drives, zip disks, DVDs, etc.), and Knowledge of PDAs. There was a significant difference in the level of effects of technology to educational leadership of key officials considering monthly family income, average time of mobile phone laptop computer use per day for chatting and learning environment had displayed diverse effects on the leadership of school leaders in terms of profile of the respondents, other factors have insignificant difference.  There was significant difference in the effects of technology to performance of key officials. Monthly family income and average time of Mobile Phone laptop computer use per day for chatting are factors of performance skills and competence support of school leaders.  A significant difference prevailed between the level of effects of technology to educational leadership and level of performance. Variations were manifested between learning environment, technology supported instructional methods and facilities and communication with performance variables communication support, task-related support, technological skills and competence support.Significant relationship among the variables were evident, educational leadership factors and factors of performance were interlinked, educational leadership set up and initiatives of leaders have significant impact on the field of education in increasing student achievement and overall school performance.