PreK Technology Application TEKS and Spiraling Curriculum

The prekindergarten TEKS are an introduction into the world of computers and the internet. Students are expected to learn how to use a mouse, keyboard, touchscreens, CD-roms, and voice software. Students are also expected to be exposed to drawing programs. Teachers are expected to show students how the equipment and software is to be used both through example and through discussion. It is expected that students will be given exposure to technology both in structured class settings and in individual play time. By the time students leave pre-k, they should have some ideas about the possibilities that exist when using computers and the internet. These TEKS set young children up with the basics they need to explore technology with more proficiency as they develop physically and mentally.

The technology applications TEKS are set up so that many skills will be reinforced at multiple ages. If a student is only expected to use a skill in one year, it is likely that they will forget how to use that skill later. If a skill is an expected part of the curriculum at several points during a child's education, then it will become ingrained in the child.

One example of this is in "Information Acquisition". In Kindergarten through 2nd grade, students are expected to be able to "apply keyword searches to acquire information". In 3rd through 5th grade, students are expected to "apply appropriate electronic search strategies in the acquisition of information including keyword and Boolean search strategies". These two TEKS apply to the same skill, its just that students are using more sophisticated search methods as they develop mentally. The TEK in 6th through 8th grade that addresses the skill of searching for information reads the same as it does in 3rd through 5th grade. The fact that this TEK keeps appearing means that it is very important to continue to develop the skill of researching effectively throughout a child's school years. In the Computer Science II course in High School, the TEK is even more sophisticated. TEK 4.B reads "compare and contrast search and sort algorithms including linear and binary searches for different purposes and search time". It still addresses the skill of researching, but it requires higher level thinking to "compare and contrast" search methods than it does to "apply" search strategies.