Post #1 Texas Long Range Plan for Technology

The Texas Long Range Plan for Technology within the Texas Education Agency is a tool for setting forth the objectives/goals and vision for moving students toward 21st century learning. For students to be successful they must be fully engaged in learning processes involving technology. Where a student goes to school should not be an issue in using technology. Teachers who integrate technology are preparing their students for the 21st century. Within the Teaching and Learning area teachers within the state have been surveyed for the last few years through the STaR Chart. There are four areas where a teacher or school or district may determine that they are operating, they are Early Tech, Developing Tech, Advanced Tech and finally Target Tech. In 2010 state teachers surveyed listed the following results. Those who were Early Tech were 2.95% an increase of .8% from the previous year. Developing Tech was the largest grouping with 65.7% an increase of 6.4% from the previous year. Advanced Tech was 30.5%, a decrease of 7.3% and Target Tech receiving just .8%, a decrease of .1%. The trend since the inception has been increasing slowly. At our school/local area the trend has also been increasing from an 8 in 2008 to a 2009 in 2010 and climbing from an Early Tech in both 2008 and 2009 to Developing Tech in 2010. At the national level they are not as far along as the state of Texas. They began developing their plan within No Child Left Behind but are only at the beginning stages of implementing the long range goals. Recommendations that I would make include making sure that high speed internet is available for all areas of the country including rural and mountain areas. Perhaps a satellite internet server in these areas instead of fiber optics. I would also recommend that educational service centers and districts offer training for teachers and staff. Administrators also need training so that when they are evaluating staff they are familiar with the programs and activities.