Technology Application TEKS

The Pre-K TEKS lay the proper foundation for school success. In Pre-K, the student will open and navigate through programs that promote development of appropriate concepts. The Pre-K student will use a variety of computer input devices (mouse, touch screen, CD-Rom, etc). The Pre-K student will operate such devices as voice/sound recorders and touch screens. The Pre-K student will create and express their own ideas through the use of technology. The Pre-K student will recognize that technology can be used to access information. These skills are spiraled through the rest of the Technology Applications TEKS. Students will have many opportunities to master and build upon these TEKS through the 8th grade. By the end of the 8th grade year the student should have had enough opportunities to practice the TEKS that he / she has achieved mastery of the Tech Apps TEKS. At the high school level, students will be expected incorporate the Tech Apps TEKS into the foundation courses, as well as expand their knowledge of technology through specialized technology courses.

It is the responsibility of every teacher to be teaching the technology applications TEKS. Each teacher needs to be incorporating these TEKS into their lessons whenever possible.

There are four strands to the technology applications TEKs. The first strand is foundation. The student needs to be able to choose the appropriate application for the task at hand and while doing so they also need to comply with all of the laws. The second strand is information acquistion. The student needs to be able to identify the task requirements, and plan search strategies (the student not only needs to access the information, he / she needs to be able to analyze and evaluate the information). The student needs to be able to find electronic information in all sorts of formats (audio, video, text, etc). The third strand is problem solving - the student needs to synthesize knowledge, create a solution, and analyze results. The students will use the information that they find to create new knowledge using a variety of programs and processes. Students will evaluate their work and seek evaluation from others (peers, teachers, professionals). The last strand is communication. The student will choose the correct technology to communicate with their audience. They will ensure that the technology they choose to communicate through meets the needs of their intended audience. They will ask for feedback to ensure that they have done so.

The Technology Application TEKS are described as a dynamic, spiraling curriculum. This denotes a curriculum that is continously assessed and changed according to the needs of the students and society. The students are given multiple opportunities to master the required knowledge and skills. For example, my US History class just finished a project on the Roaring 20's. The product for this project was a radio broadcast (using Audacity). The students had numerous opportunities to master the knowledge and skills. Each student was assigned a topic from the 1920's. They had to use technology to locate resources within the library. They also had to use technology to locate resources on the Internet. (Each student had to have at least one library resource, and one Internet resource). After finding the resources, the student had to write their script using MS Word. (The student had to cite their sources at the end of the project.) Once each student had their script they collaborated with 3 other students to produce their radio broadcast. Each group of 4 had to determine the best way to present their material (for example, interview, reporting of the news, etc). Each group then had to combine their scripts to get the best flow for their broadcast. Then using this script, each group had to record their broadcast using Audacity. Each member of the group had multiple opportunities to apply the four strands of the technology applications in their US History class.