How leadership, patience, and belief turned technology from a task into a culture of
creation.
When I first stepped into my role as a technology leader at Delhi Private School, Sharjah,
my presence was often seen as a sign that more work was coming. Every new initiative, a
form, a tracker, a portal, was met with sighs that said, “Oh no, more work!” Technology felt
like an additional task, not a tool. Many teachers feared it would complicate their already
demanding schedules, and honestly, I understood that fear.
The early days were full of patience-testing moments: repeated trainings, countless logins,
and questions that started with “Why do we need this?” Every entry, every update, every
click was a mountain. Some days, it felt like we were counting not students but millions of
clicks, one for every attendance, every mark, every detail painstakingly fed into the
system.
Then came COVID-19, the great disruptor and, strangely, the great teacher. Overnight,
technology was no longer optional. From homes filled with noise and responsibility,
teachers logged in, taught, adapted, and learned, often while keeping their own families
afloat. The same screens that once felt like barriers became lifelines. The same teachers
who once resisted change began asking, “Can you help me do this better?”
From there, the transformation was remarkable. Where we once heard, “Do we have to
enter this again?” we now hear, “Can we enter this data and generate graphs?” Where
forms once felt like burden, dashboards became sources of pride. Where technology once
meant tasks, it now means insight, reflection, and smarter work.
And just when we thought we had arrived, AI changed the game. It shifted us from thinking
to creating, from routine to innovation, and from effort to impact. Teachers who once
hesitated to click now design visuals, generate summaries, and reimagine lessons,
creating experiences that were once unimaginable.
The Learning Management System (LMS) tells its own story of transformation. There were
days when it was hardly used, and today, the system handles such heavy traffic that we
often talk about load balancing to manage the surge in usage. The exponential growth of
LMS interactions over the past decade reflects how deeply the teaching community has
embraced technology.
Leadership that stayed patient when results were slow, firm when
resistance was high, and hopeful when motivation dipped, that is what
turned technology into transformation.
This evolution was not just technological; it was deeply human. It required leadership that
stayed patient when results were slow, firm when resistance was high, and hopeful when
motivation dipped. Leadership that believed in progress even when it was invisible.
Every time the Principal would have a meeting, it would end with ten people walking into
my office, each asking for new features, new reports, or more data. I would lose track of
the priority tasks set in my own meetings and begin working on their requests instead. I
chose to do that intentionally, to build confidence, to earn trust, and to show that
technology could deliver on what people needed most.
The change, however, was still slow, as transformation in a large organization often moves
at the speed of its slowest adopter. To accelerate the process, I decided to focus my
efforts on those who believed in the vision and could influence others. Training these early
adopters created a chain reaction of change, where confidence spread faster than
instruction.
During this journey, I also faced many arguments, some logical and constructive, others
unreasonable or redundant. Yet, even those moments played their part. Today, those
same discussions have evolved into something far more empowering: “Prove it with data.”
It is no longer about opinions or resistance, but about evidence, reflection, and
measurable growth.
In this journey from having nothing digital to now offering an ecosystem of advanced,
diverse, and adaptive features, ICT has grown from being a support department to
becoming the school’s silent engine of transformation, powering efficiency, creativity, and
insight in every corner of the institution.
I often think back to those meeting rooms where I’d ask questions that drew blank stares,
when data, dashboards, and analytics felt like a foreign language. Today, those same
meetings are filled with teachers asking for new features, exploring data trends, and
discussing how technology can make teaching more effective and transparent.
Change did not come overnight. It came through patience and resistance: patience to
guide, to explain for the hundredth time, and resistance to frustration, fatigue, and giving
up. Together, we have built not just systems but a culture that values innovation,
embraces learning, and sees technology not as an obligation but as an opportunity.
Looking around now, I see a community that once feared technology now shaping it,
teachers designing lessons with creativity, using data with clarity, and innovating with
purpose. They no longer ask “Can we do this?” but “How can we make this better?” That is
the moment transformation truly happens when belief replaces fear, and innovation
becomes a shared heartbeat of the school.
If I have learned one thing through it all, it is this: transformation is not born from machines
or systems, but from human will. Change happens when people believe in their own
capacity to grow, to adapt, and to inspire others to do the same. That belief is the
heartbeat of every lasting innovation.
By Anubha Kalra,
Senior Manager – Innovation & Technology
