Texas Long Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020

Technology has become the focal point of the “21st century learner”. With the national education scene rapidly changing, states and districts must begin preparing our students for a new wave of life long learning. Across the nation, technology is quickly overtaking the traditional schooling techniques, however, not enough progress has been made on the local, state, and national levels. It is time for educators to begin to focus their efforts on preparing our students for the future by focus on the “Teaching and Learning” portion of Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology. This focuses on learning for all students in preparation for the 21st century. Including areas for students to collaboratively learn and expand their classroom beyond the walls of the traditional school. Teachers are encouraged to engage their students in distance learning opportunities and begin serving as more of a facilitator of learning, rather than the sole source of information.

According to the Campus Statewide summary for 2008, this area is one of the weaker areas. Only 26.4% of the schools are classified as either Advanced Tech or Target Tech. Most of the schools, 69.7%, are in the Developing Tech area. The goal is that by 2020 the majority of schools are in the Target Tech area. This trend holds true for RBMS as well. According to STaR chart data, this is one of lower areas for our campus. Each year has been better, but this area has yet to even reach the Advanced Tech stage.

My recommendations for this area are simple. Student learning is the focus for education. Currently our campus, according to 2008-2009 data, has received an Advanced Tech rating for two of the four areas. We have the infrastructure and our administration is providing the necessary supports. It is time for teachers to put into practice the knowledge they are gaining from all of the other supports. I feel that asking teachers to include technological strategies in each unit could help tremendously in improving this area. In addition, making data, such as STaR chart data, more available to our teachers, will help them see where improvements needed.