Blog Posting #3: Summary of the NETP

The National Educational Technology Plan sites two main goals for education: raise the proportion of college graduates so that 60% of the population holds a 2 or 4 year degree, and close the achievement gap so that all students – regardless of race, income, or neighborhood – graduate from high school ready to succeed in college and careers. To accomplish these goals we must embrace innovation, prompt implementation, regular evaluation, and continuous improvement. This plan calls for a shift in the traditional isolated teaching model to a connected teaching model where teaching is a team activity. Educators build online learning communities consisting of their students, fellow educators, professional experts, community members, and parents. Connected teaching also provides educators with effective teaching and learning resources and provides more options for all learners at all levels. This model provides better opportunities for students as well. Through the use of technology and digital tools, students will receive a more personalized learning experience that is personally meaningful. In order to prepare educators, infrequent and ineffective professional development must be replaced by professional learning that is collaborative, coherent, and continuous. Professional learning should support and develop educators’ identities as fluent users of technology, creative and collaborative problem solvers, and adaptive, socially aware experts throughout their careers. For educators to be expected to accomplish these goals for their students and themselves they must be equipped with time to engage in professional learning. Collaboration is another key factor, as research demonstrates the importance of collaboration among teachers. Finally, the use of career-long personal learning networks would be able to make professional learning timely and relevant as well as an ongoing activity that continually improves practices.

Blog Posting #2: Progress Report on Long Range Plan

In 2006 Texas created the Long Range Plan for Technology 2006-2020 to address the needs of technology in education and to ensure that students are being prepared to enter a 21^st Century workforce. The main components of the plan addressed four areas: teaching and learning; educator preparation and development; leadership, administration, and instructional support; and infrastructure. In the past four years progress has been made in each of these areas. Teaching and learning has been significantly impacted by infusing technology into the curriculum to most effectively reach today’s learners. Districts now have increased access to important 21^st Century resources such as online learning, digital content, and online professional development. Distance learning opportunities, like TxVSN have also provided powerful tools for ensuring that students across the state have equitable access to quality education and instruction regardless to the school’s wealth, size, socioeconomic status, or geographical location. The second category, educator preparation and development, plays a major role in meeting the needs of students by increasing learning and engagement in the classroom. Texas educators now have a wide variety of opportunities for high quality professional development that uses a collection of Web 2.0 tools and applications to provide valuable resources across the state. Project Share is one of the newest technology based tools that offers teachers access to digital content through online repositories and state-owned instructional materials. The third category, leadership, administration, and instructional support requires vision-building, administrator commitment, and skilled leadership. The Texas STaR Chart assists district and campus leaders when they update their technology plans and conceptualize districts’ vision, benchmarks, and goals surrounding technology. This data is also used when applying for grants and E-Rate funding. The final category, infrastructure, is the critical element of support for all aspects of technology. Texas public schools, along with Service Centers and TEA continually work toward building a rich and powerful infrastructure to support the increased use of technology and digital content in classrooms. With these efforts, Texas is making significant strides towards the goals of the Long Range Plan for Technology to improve education for the 21^st Century learner.

Blog Posting #1: Teaching and Learning

According to the Texas Long Range Plan, technology should transform Teaching and Learning by allowing access to technology resources and tools 24/7 seven days a week, provide new methods to solving real-world problems, improve research-based strategies, and provide effective communication in a variety of ways. Substantial progress has been made in this area through the implementation of key legislation, grant funding, and educational technology programs. The Texas STaR Chart shows that the majority of Texas teachers and campuses evaluate themselves at the Developing or Advanced Tech level in Teaching and Learning. This implies that there has been an improvement in the number of teachers reaching higher levels of implementation of the Technology Applications TEKS and acquiring technology capabilities. Since the use of digital technology is changing traditional roles of students and teachers, the trend in education is now to provide access to engaging and rigorous instruction through the use of distance and on-line learning. As a response to this trend, the Texas Legislature established The Texas Virtual School Network (TxVSN) to provide students with equitable access to quality, supplemental online courses. All courses are taught by a certified Texas educator and offer students with a wider variety of choices than those available at their home district. The flexibility of TxVSN has rapidly increased enrollment and the variety/number of courses provided. Curriculum and instructional materials have also experienced a significant change. Teachers are now incorporating digital content within teaching and learning. Smartboards and electronic textbooks are now replacing the traditional chalkboards and paper textbooks. K-12 Databases and online tutoring programs are also available to support equitable access to students and educators across the state. Through the use of educational technology, Teaching and Learning will continue to change significantly in order to transform the traditional classroom into the 21^st Century learning environment.

texas star chart

More PowerPoint presentations from Jana Williams