Texas Long Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020

I think that the most important area of the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020 is that of teaching and learning. I believe that this is the area that will have the greatest impact on student success. Educators need to provide students with an education that will allow for them to be successful members of society; this future will definitely incorporate an ever-changing technology. This means that we must teach students to become lifelong learners in order to stay current with the trends.

Teaching and Learning is everything that teachers do to present the curriculum. Traditional education is more teacher-led, while the education of today and definitely the education of the future needs to be more student-centered. Education needs to be always evolving - with the end being that the students are active participants in their education. Teachers need to be sure that their lessons are connected to students' lives and experiences. Lessons must be based in research based best-practices.

I believe that my campus is making progress in incorporating technolgy into teaching and learning. While there are still a great many teacher-led lectures happening, there are more and more student-centered activities being incoroporated as well. The adminstration on my campus allows for teachers to take risks in order to incorporate technology and it celebrates the many successes of the students. Technology is being integrated into all courses (core and electives). I believe that progress is being make in Texas as well. Nearly 70% of respondents indicated that students regularly use technology on an individual basis to access electronic information and develop communication and presentation projects. Nearly 26% of respondents in Texas stated that instruction is teacher - facilitated and students are collaborating with peers to problem-solve; they are also integrating the Technology TEKS into the core courses. Less than 1% of respondents stated that students have on-demand access to all appropriate technologies to complete activities that have been seamlessly integrated into all core content areas. This is unacceptable, our students' futures demand that we prepare them for a technologically based world. We, as educators, need to be working toward this end.

The trend on my campus is toward more student-centered activities, and less teacher-led lectures. The trend is toward technology being incorporated in all areas. There is more collaboration within the classroom. The teacher is becoming a facilitator and mentor, and learning from and with the students. Administration expects that teachers will incorporate technology on an almost daily basis, and that lessons become more student-centered and differentiated to meet the needs of the individual student. The trend in the state of Texas is that teachers are beginning to use technology in the foundation courses. Classes still tend to be teacher-directed, however, students do have access to technology. The schools of Texas are moving toward more student-centered activities, and more implementation of the technology TEKS into the core courses. While they are making progress, educators in Texas still have along way to go.

My recommendation is that teachers need to take risks. They need to allow students to collaborate with each other, and with students in other cities, states, countries. Teachers need to be willing to take the emphasis off them as teachers, and allow the students to direct the learning. Teachers need to implement current technology into their lessons and connect these lessons to their students' lives. Teachers need to take advantage of staff development opportunities in technology, and they need to collaborate and plan with each other and they need to stay current on the trends. Teachers need to prepared to prepare their students for the global and digital world that they are about to enter.