Thursday, November 26, 2009
Educator Preparation & Development
The Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology relies on growth in four particular areas in order for the vision to be met. The targeted categories include the learners, educators, leaders and infrastructure, and though I believe each one of these is equally important in attaining the plan's goals, I am going to look at the role of the educators in this ambitious plan for the state's educational system.
"Today Texas faces a critical urgency for all professional educators, both current and those who will enter the education system in the future, to have the skills needed to change instruction to meet the needs of this generation of Texas students." (The Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020, TEA)
The plan stresses the need for educator preparation programs that teach educators how to effectively use technology in the classroom. Once out of school, educators must be able to develop new learning environments that utilize technology as a flexible tool where learning is collaborative, interactive and customized. Furthermore, educators must know how to integrate the appropriate technology throughout all of the curriculum and instruction. These are tall orders and are not something that will happen without the proper training.
More than 5,000 teachers participated in NetDay Speak Up 2005, a survey assessing the use of technology in schools. Among the most interesting responses were that teachers find the primary obstacle to using technology in their classroom to be lack of time, rather than lack of training. Additional barriers include not enough computers and no home access for students.
Most teachers indicated that their pre-service preparation or school-provided professional development aided in their use of technology and all teachers reported a desire for additional professional development with the primary emphasis on integration of technology into the curriculum and instruction. All of these findings fall in line with my personal experience.
Teachers in Texas are primarily using technology in their classrooms to complete administrative tasks, such as communicating by email, taking attendance, analyzing data and recording student grades. While this is a start, it's not where we want to be technology-wise. Teachers need the tools and resources to help them integrate technology into both the curriculum and the instruction.
Resources
The Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020, TEA, http://www.tea.state.tx.us/technology/lrpt/lrpt_lrpt.html.
"Today Texas faces a critical urgency for all professional educators, both current and those who will enter the education system in the future, to have the skills needed to change instruction to meet the needs of this generation of Texas students." (The Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020, TEA)
The plan stresses the need for educator preparation programs that teach educators how to effectively use technology in the classroom. Once out of school, educators must be able to develop new learning environments that utilize technology as a flexible tool where learning is collaborative, interactive and customized. Furthermore, educators must know how to integrate the appropriate technology throughout all of the curriculum and instruction. These are tall orders and are not something that will happen without the proper training.
More than 5,000 teachers participated in NetDay Speak Up 2005, a survey assessing the use of technology in schools. Among the most interesting responses were that teachers find the primary obstacle to using technology in their classroom to be lack of time, rather than lack of training. Additional barriers include not enough computers and no home access for students.
Most teachers indicated that their pre-service preparation or school-provided professional development aided in their use of technology and all teachers reported a desire for additional professional development with the primary emphasis on integration of technology into the curriculum and instruction. All of these findings fall in line with my personal experience.
Teachers in Texas are primarily using technology in their classrooms to complete administrative tasks, such as communicating by email, taking attendance, analyzing data and recording student grades. While this is a start, it's not where we want to be technology-wise. Teachers need the tools and resources to help them integrate technology into both the curriculum and the instruction.
Resources
The Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020, TEA, http://www.tea.state.tx.us/technology/lrpt/lrpt_lrpt.html.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Pre-K Technology Applications TEKS
The Pre-K TEKS lay the foundation for student performance in future grades by giving students authentic and repeated opportunities to practice the skill they are learning. The TEKS address five domains. They are social and emotional development; language and communication; emergent literacy: reading; emergent literacy: writing; and math. Within each of the five domains, teachers have the obligation to provide instructional strategies that support the students.
The Technology Applications TEKS provide a spiraling curriculum, giving students multiple opportunities to master knowledge and skills. For example, in the emergent literacy: writing domain, children move through the writing stages from scribbles to letter-like shapes to conventional letters. In the video example, the teacher guides a student who is copying letters from a classroom example with a little scaffolding from the teacher.
Teachers are also expected to extend student learning by modeling, drawing on students' prior knowledge, using visuals and making a real-world connection between the child and the material the teacher is presenting. These are further examples of a spiraling curriculum.
The Technology Applications TEKS provide a spiraling curriculum, giving students multiple opportunities to master knowledge and skills. For example, in the emergent literacy: writing domain, children move through the writing stages from scribbles to letter-like shapes to conventional letters. In the video example, the teacher guides a student who is copying letters from a classroom example with a little scaffolding from the teacher.
Teachers are also expected to extend student learning by modeling, drawing on students' prior knowledge, using visuals and making a real-world connection between the child and the material the teacher is presenting. These are further examples of a spiraling curriculum.
The Long-Range Plan for Technology
Reviewing the Long-Range Plan for Technology was an eye-opening experience that gave me hope about the future of educational technology in Texas and also made me aware of the immense amount of work that accomplishing this vision will demand.
I definitely respect the thoroughness of this report. It communicates the demand for implementation of educational technology by stressing the reality of our global economy; explaining the nature of today's learners; and expressing teacher opinions concerning technology in the classroom.
The most important thing I learned from reading this report is that the success of this vision lies in the hands of many different parties, including the state and federal governments; regional service centers; individual campuses and their administration and leaders; teachers; universities; and communities and the private sector. All of these groups must be made to realize that they are stakeholders and will be affected by the technological readiness of today's students.
As an instructional leader who is guiding technology use and integration at a campus, I now realize that I'd be responsible for budgeting for and monitoring a technology plan that improves student learning; offering students a variety of distance learning technologies; and providing opportunities for relevant and timely staff development. Among the most important of these responsibilities is staff development. In completing the surveys and reviewing this report, I am more aware of the importance of teaching teachers how to use technology in their instruction. It's so much more than just knowing how to navigate a computer and run software; it's about effectively using that computer and the software to enrich students' learning. This is a tall order and teachers need help!
I definitely respect the thoroughness of this report. It communicates the demand for implementation of educational technology by stressing the reality of our global economy; explaining the nature of today's learners; and expressing teacher opinions concerning technology in the classroom.
The most important thing I learned from reading this report is that the success of this vision lies in the hands of many different parties, including the state and federal governments; regional service centers; individual campuses and their administration and leaders; teachers; universities; and communities and the private sector. All of these groups must be made to realize that they are stakeholders and will be affected by the technological readiness of today's students.
As an instructional leader who is guiding technology use and integration at a campus, I now realize that I'd be responsible for budgeting for and monitoring a technology plan that improves student learning; offering students a variety of distance learning technologies; and providing opportunities for relevant and timely staff development. Among the most important of these responsibilities is staff development. In completing the surveys and reviewing this report, I am more aware of the importance of teaching teachers how to use technology in their instruction. It's so much more than just knowing how to navigate a computer and run software; it's about effectively using that computer and the software to enrich students' learning. This is a tall order and teachers need help!
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Requisite Technology Skills Assessment
I completed two surveys to assess my strengths and weaknesses in the area of educational technology leadership. The first assessment is the Technology Applications Inventory, developed by the TEA to determine the requisite knowledge required for implementation of the Technology Applications TEKS. It looks at my knowledge and skills in the four strands of Foundations, Information Acquisition, Solving Problems and Communication.
What I discovered is that I scored the highest percentages of yes answers in the Foundations category, which makes sense. I have a good foundation of knowledge in technology, having used it for all of my adult life. In the Information Acquisition domain I answered 70 percent of the questions with a yes. Once again, since college I have been doing Internet research and learning how to evaluate information. My weaknesses lie in the Solving Problems and Communication domains, which I see as higher-level knowledge and skills. There were no surprises with this first assessment.
The State Educational Technology Directors Association survey was the second assessment I took. It is designed to evaluate my technology use, the availability of technology at my school and district policies related to technology. I obviously know how to answer questions about my technology use and the availability of technology at my school. I knew little, though, about district policies related to technoloty. I need more knowledge and skills in the area of district resources and policies.
Though this survey was very thorough, it's hard to take the wealth of information and boil it down to a few statements that sum up my understanding of technology. I do like that included availability of resources and district policies, though, because it provides a much better evaluation of what there is to use technology-wise. It seems like the first assessment is best for an individual and the second would be most useful to a group or committee that is examining technology use at a school.
What I discovered is that I scored the highest percentages of yes answers in the Foundations category, which makes sense. I have a good foundation of knowledge in technology, having used it for all of my adult life. In the Information Acquisition domain I answered 70 percent of the questions with a yes. Once again, since college I have been doing Internet research and learning how to evaluate information. My weaknesses lie in the Solving Problems and Communication domains, which I see as higher-level knowledge and skills. There were no surprises with this first assessment.
The State Educational Technology Directors Association survey was the second assessment I took. It is designed to evaluate my technology use, the availability of technology at my school and district policies related to technology. I obviously know how to answer questions about my technology use and the availability of technology at my school. I knew little, though, about district policies related to technoloty. I need more knowledge and skills in the area of district resources and policies.
Though this survey was very thorough, it's hard to take the wealth of information and boil it down to a few statements that sum up my understanding of technology. I do like that included availability of resources and district policies, though, because it provides a much better evaluation of what there is to use technology-wise. It seems like the first assessment is best for an individual and the second would be most useful to a group or committee that is examining technology use at a school.
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