home

=Technology + Education.=

Let's implement technology in Texas public schools. We have the challenge to get the students ready for the 21st Century. This space should serve as a digital tool to help educators implement technology in their classrooms. Let's all share, comment, and apply ideas to meet the demands of the new learners.

Here are my impressions of the Texas-Long Range Plan for Technology.

Having a chance to read the Long-range plan gave me a deeper perspective of what the state is trying to do to prepare the students for their lives. It also showed me how all the parts involved in the plan must work together to implement the plan. Of all the new information that I acquired from this assignment, there are two ideas that made me think about the implementation of the Long-Range plan. The first idea is the importance of instructional support to prepare teachers for the demands of the new learners. Providing instructional support for teachers is a big component of the plan. I believe that the key is to provide opportunities for educators to experience the use of new technologies in the classroom. Technology support goes beyond the troubleshooting of devices and networks; support needs to come from technology specialist, as well from math specialist and language arts specialist. They all need to collaborate to make sure teachers are integrating technology in their classrooms. I think technology is becoming the driving force for subject areas; it is not about integrating technology, but letting technology take the lead to integrate content areas. The second idea that made me reflect is the way experienced teachers see the implementation of this plan. At first there is always a bit of resistance when a change comes. A key for the implementation of this plan is the support from teachers. Teachers need to learn new technologies and implement them in their classrooms. From reviewing the Long-Range plan I get the perspective that most of the teachers are adapting well to the changes that the state wants them to do. Surveys show that proper training is taking place at all levels of instruction. To keep the continuity of the plan technology leaders need to keep professional development standards that integrate the curriculum with technology. It is the only way to provide a 21st Century education in the state of Texas.

After analyzing the STaR Chart for Liestman Elementary, we can see that the area of Teaching and Learning shows room for improvement. It seems that we are using and integrating technology in the classrooms, but we are not using technology to teach and integrate foundation TEKS, or at least we don't feel comfortable doing this. Here is a link with more of my impression on the Texas Long Range plan and the STaR Chart analysis for Liestman ES: [|www.carlgrafblogspot.com] So, What can we do to make sure our rating in this area goes to the next level? How can we implement technology to teach fourndation TEKS in the classrooms?