Infrastructure for Technology is one of the four areas that is addressed by the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020 and by the Texas STaR Chart. I chose to talk about Infrastructure because none of the other areas can be improved unless schools have a strong foundation in hardware and software. Infrastructure is the category that covers student and educator access to technology and availability of broadband in all classrooms. Infrastructure also evaluates a district’s ability to secure and protect data that is collected and helps districts to utilize data to make informed decisions about curriculum.
The numbers of schools at the Early Tech and Developing Tech stages of development are decreasing while the numbers of schools at Advanced Tech and Target Tech ratings are increasing. This indicates that schools are putting more money and effort into increasing their technological foundation. More schools each year are included in the Advanced Tech and Target Tech categories.
In order to improve Infrastructure ratings, schools need to continue to provide more access to technology and increase the amount of broadband available. Schools also need to work towards achieving a 1:1 student to laptop ratio. Most districts obviously cannot do this in one or even five years, but they can add a few computers every year until they have reached this ideal status.
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I also think that distance learning and streaming video will require more bandwidth for each internet connected computer.
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