Long-Range Plan for Technology

After reading the Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006 - 2020, I'm overwhelmed. I love the idea of classrooms being technology rich by the year 2020, but I do not believe it will become a reality. We're in an economy where districts are making budget cuts and losing staff. Where is the money for all of the technology going to come from? We don't have it.

I was impressed with the vision of the Long-Range plan. I do feel that students can be technology literate by the eighth grade. Students of all ages are very adept at using the new technologies that are constantly being introduced to consumers.

I also like the strong push to provide ongoing staff development and training for teachers. Teachers will feel more secure on implementing technology to correlate with curriculum and instruction if they have been properly trained to do so.

Each step of the Long-Range Plan for Technology includes recommendations for TEA on how to best implement the plan. I’m curious to see how much TEA does provide for districts and local agencies toward developing technology rich schools.

According to the plan, technology will make education equitable for all students at all levels of learning. I can see computers being a wonderful tool for teachers to use if there are enough computers to make learning equitable. At my campus, we have one student computer per classroom, which is not enough to provide all of the needed resources to differentiate for students. We also have a computer lab available, but with a rotating schedule, classes only get access to the lab every two weeks. We have two portable laptop labs, but the lap tops are already “old,” and many of them no longer work. So, while the idea of having technology available to all students is wonderful, the reality does not quite match the vision.