BLOG #1 - Texas Long Range Plan for Technology

The Texas Long Range Plan for Technology hosts four core areas that track technology usage by teachers and students as well as makes recommendations for future use and application.

Of these four areas: Teaching and Learning; Educator Preparation and Development; Leadership, Administration and Instructional Support; and Infrastructure for Technology, I feel that the area that forms the foundation to support the others is Infrastructure for Technology. This area has also been crucial to the effectiveness of technology implementation on my home campus.

Five years ago, my district proposed, and won, a bond election to provide students and teachers with on-demand technology equipment. Both quantity of hardware and quality of accessibility were taken into consideration. Instructional support was also added to campuses in the form of Campus Instructional Technologists (CIT) who help teachers directly with the incorporation of technology into their lessons, and Campus Technology Support Specialists (CTSS) who manage the networks and hardware. There were eight CITs assigned to the 24 Elementary campuses, four at the Middle Schools, and four at the High Schools. With the addition of these positions, technology usage and application greatly increased.

Unfortunately, with the School Budget Crisis of 2011, these very positions that promoted and enhanced technology use within our schools have now come under attack. Everywhere you look, there is talk of technology being such an integral component of 21^st Century learning. It has been woven into the curriculum through TEKS-based instruction. However, one of the first areas to loose budgeting is that of technology. My district has already made arrangements to cut the CITs for next year, leaving teachers without a resource person to brainstorm, plan, and problem solve through technology with.

I propose districts find a way to keep these employees because the level of technology to be used within classrooms depends on them. Without them, we hinder the effectiveness of our curriculum and student productivity.

Texas Education Agency. (2007 - 2011). Long Range Plan for Technology (LRPT). Retrieved from http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=5082&menu_id=2147483665