My 23 Things Leadership Journey

Firstly I watched the video Orange Digital Dirt and I found it very interesting and something I have a great deal of knowledge on due to working in a management position and being involved in recruitment and selection of new staff. I feel it's really important for employees to be aware of what they post online because if a service users were to access this, it could damage the reputation and trust they have built up when working with the service user.  I did a search for myself in my home town and through my work place and nothing out of the ordinary came up. Again, because I have a great understanding of what can be found online, I am very conscious about what I post and where I post. I make sure all my accounts are private and I don't accept friend requests from people I don't know or may know through association.  The 8 Tips to Effectively Manage Your Digital Footprint is a really useful tool to use to check up on social media and digital accounts such as email, online b...

I found the info-graphic on digital capabilities really interesting and very relevant to my experience of digital learning. I am confident in using a wide range of technology to support my learning and to share information with my service users and staff. I use technology every day in my work place; from sending and receiving emails, publishing information to service users via our app and updating our blog.  I have found the use of digital technologies particularly useful during the COVID-19 closures as it has allowed me to keep in contact with staff and service users both quickly and effectively. As soon as there have been any updates to services, I have been able to communicate these via social media channels and by email. Likewise, I have been able to receive updates from my manager and our regulatory services. I have found using GLOW and the forms tool really useful in gathering feedback to inform practice through self-evaluation too. However, I do feel we have to be mindful th...

I was surprised to learn that Open Badges are recognised internationally and that over 3000 organisations across the world recognise them. I like that the badges are earned based on your understanding and knowledge you have gained and that people who view your badge can see the evidence you have provided to demonstrate your understanding; it#s not just a certificate to show you completed the badge. I was surprised to learn someone can endorse your badge and that it doesn't have to be your manager. I like that it can be someone who uses your service as you can then use this for self-evaluation purposes. I would tell my colleagues to complete the Open Badges because it's an excellent way to demonstrate your knowledge and an easy way to learn and go at your own pace.

In the self- assessment form, I rated myself 5 for all areas which were: self-confidence, motivation, positive attitude, good communication skills, good collaborator and competent user of IT. I feel I am able to rate myself a 5 across all areas because of my work ethic and my role as a depute manager means I have to display these characteristics in practice in order to support my staff. I am confident in accessing training to further develop my skills as I know this will benefit myself, my staff and my service users.  I have a lot of experience of accessing digital learning because of my SSSC registration requirements and access to a variety of online learning modules. This has become even more apparent since the COVID-19 closures and using my time working at home to further develop my skills and knowledge by accessing digital learning resources.  I feel the characteristics of a successful digital learner can definitely be used in more traditional approaches to learning. I nee...

In practice, I hadn't used any form of video chat until the COVID-19 closure. We started using ZOOM to hold staff meetings however due to security concerns that anyone could access these meetings, our authority put a ban on ZOOM being used by staff. Instead I have been using the Microsoft Teams video chat available through my GLOW login. This is a much more secure platform as staff need to use their GLOW logins to access Microsoft Teams.  I have found using video chat very easy and very useful to get the same information across to staff at the same time without us being able to be together. I also found it useful that you can record the chat and then staff can look at it again if they feel they need to refresh themselves. As an authority, we were also using these to conduct team around the child meetings which were essential to continue to share information and provide support to children and families.  I have also used webinars to participate in my university lectures as I ha...

In practice I use Outlook to send and receive emails. This is set up as a corporate email account to ensure there are firewalls in place to stop any malicious content being sent to my email account and causing issues to the authority's IT equipment and servers.  My email account is set up with an inbox folder and a deleted items folder. I had previously set up folders for specific emails i.e. from my head teacher however the authority was doing a big clean up of their storage systems therefore I saved them to my desktop. As I have a corporate log in only I can access the content on my desktop so it is quite secure.  On my personal email account, I set up folders for specific emails such as insurance renewals, holiday documents etc. This is a useful way for me to keep track of things I need to do.  During the COVID-19 closure, I have been using my outlook account via GLOW to communicate with staff and parents as we don't all have access to our corporate email accounts - I ...