Re: The Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020

The Long Range Plan is a series of recommendations presented by the State Board of Education to the 80th Legislature. It discusses the steps that need to be taken by TEA, Regional Service Centers, school districts, and the private sector in order to help support bringing our students into the 21st century and teaching them to use all of the technology that is available to them. The full plan can be found at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/technology/lrpt/lrpt_lrpt.html.

If I had access to the funds, I think being able to provide a 1:1 ratio of students to computers would be an invaluable step forward in incorporating technology into every classroom. As a teacher, I love days where I can give every pair of students or every student a computer and have them research or practice a concept with the support of instant feedback. Many teachers have great ideas on how to incorporate computers into their lesson plans and would do so quickly if they had regular access to computers. We are lucky in our district to have laptops that we can check out for our students, but we do not have enough for every classroom to be using them every period. It would be a very smart investment to work further toward this goal every year.

I would also like to focus on providing professional development not only for using computers, but also using other technologies like Mimios and CPS clickers. These are things that are available to us at our school, but many teachers do not use them because they don’t know how. If teachers do not have the time they need to feel comfortable integrating technology, it will not be used in the classroom. Teachers already feel short on time. Asking them to incorporate technology without carving out adequate time and support to learn it will not produce good results. Yet, this is what many school districts do. They spend money on good technology and provide a day or two (sometimes not even that) to teachers and then tell them, “OK! Go have fun!!” Teachers want to use the new materials in hopes of engaging more students but never do because they can’t find the time to plan for it. We need intensive time where experts on the technology are available to PLCs for a couple of weeks in the summer to work specifically on incorporating new technologies into the curriculum.