Reflection on Texas Long Range Plan for Technology

The Texas Long Range Plan for Technology is a wonderful way for the state to monitor district and school progress on their use of technology. The plan is divided into four areas; Teaching and Learning; Educator Preparation and Development; Leadership, Administration, and Instructional Support; and Infrastructure for Technology. In my opinion, teaching and learning are the main reason this plan is in place. Educators need to realize the impact we have on the student's future. Therefore, it is our responsibility to be the teacher, but more importantly to be a learner. We need to go learn patterns of use in the classroom, design for instructional settings, the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for technology, how to help students master these skills, and online learning. These six areas in the plan give us a direction to learn and grow. All of these concepts are important, but teachers cannot learn without the proper training. Our campus has a long way to go before we qualify for the Advanced Tech rating. We currently have an every other week computer lab rotation. The upper grades spend 45 minutes in the lab, but the younger students split their time due to shorter attention spans. While the computer lab is a wonderful resource, 45 minutes every other week is just not enough time for the students to master computer skills necessary for the current demands. The teachers have the option to bring the students on their own during the off weeks, but not all of them do. If the teachers do not emphasize technology importance the students are not able to make a connection to the personal need in the real world. Learning how to do research, use online functions, and the Internet are all vital skills our students need to know to function in the real world. My recommendation for our school and district would be to place more computers in the individual classrooms, train the teachers, and increase programs available to the students. Educator Preparation and Development are also crucial for the teachers. Our campus earned the Developing Tech rating in this area. Our district does not offer very many technology trainings. If they do train the teachers on a new program, it is a one time event. Then, the teachers are expected to return to campus to figure out the rest of the program. It would be beneficial to utilize our technology instructor to provide the teachers with support. I have worked on campuses that had a technology specialist to provide support to the teachers. Our technology teacher will answer your questions and is very helpful, but she has her own class to worry about and doesn't always have time. I believe if the teachers were offered quality professional development they would deepen their understanding and face many fears they may have about technology. Technology usage begins at the top. If our administrators and leadership utilize technology it sets an example for all other employees. It also forces employees to use email, Microsoft outlook calendars, palm pilots, etc. The biggest issue our district struggles with is the budget and planning. For example, we have a program called eSchool and eFinance. These programs are about five years old. They are to be updated every two years. Our district has refused to budget enough money for these updates and the programs are on the verge of shutting down. The district needs to communicate and collaborate to come up with a better plan to make our technology resources better. Finally, our highest scores were under Infrastructure for Technology. The report states that we have proficient Internet access connectivity speed, technical support, and local area network wide area network. It does state that we need to work on student to computer ratio. I know they have a plan to implement more computers in the classroom. However, many items have been placed on hold due to budgetary concerns. The computer Internet access speed is okay, but can be slow at times. During the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. the Internet is particularly slow. This is due to the mass amount of usage during this time and not having enough band width to support the large amount of users. The district just agreed to pay the money for the band width, so I hope to see some improvement in the future. Our technical support is wonderful! We have an online maintenance request system if we need help. A computer technician is assigned to our campus and is there a couple of times per week to fill our request. He is great about helping in a timely manner. I like the online submission process because the teachers are able to make a request without having to go through several people before receiving assistance. Our district has far to go to become an Advanced Tech rating. However, the district does want to improve and has plans to grow. Once the budget is settled, we might be able to proceed with our plans.